
^^^WM^iimMiMiMMM^SS^^ 



THE HISTORY 



RIDGEFIELD, CONN. 



FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE 
PRESENT TIME. 



BY 



jr 



DANIEi. W; TELLER, 



PASTOR OF T 




TIONAL CHUKCH, RIDGEFIELD, CONN. 



'^Al^URY: 

T. DOSIOVAN 



..^ 



r 




X. 



TO 

FROM WHOM I HAVE RECEIVED SO MANY EXPRESSIONS OF KINDLY FEELING, 

AND OF WHOM I SHALL HAVE ALWAYS THE MOST 

GRATEFUL RECOLLECTIONS, 

THIS LITTLE VOLUME, THE WORK OF SPARE MOMENTS, 

IS 

DEDICA TED. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I. — Survey and Purchase of Land.... 3 

CHAPTER H.— Settlement 12 

CHAPTER ni.— Further Purchases from the Indians. . 21 

CHAPTER IV.— Colonial History 31 

CHAPTER V. — Revolutionary History. — Tryon's Inva- 
sion . 45 

CHAPTER VI. — Incidents of Revolutionary History... 68 

CHAPTER VII. — Congregational Church 92 

CHAPTER VIII.— St. Stephen's Church 113 

CHAPTER IX. — Methodist Episcopal Church 132 

CHAPTER X.—Ridgebury Churches 141 

CHAPTER XI. — Schools of the Town 151 

CHAPTER XII.— Ridgefield in 1800 163 

CHAPTER XIII.— Ridgefield in 1855 180 

CHAPTER XIV. — Tradition and Reminiscence 202 

CHAPTER XV. — Town Record in the War of the Re- 
bellion 212 

CHAPTER XVI. — Present Condition of the Town 239 

APPENDIX 245 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Frontispiece — Residence of J. Howard King, Esq. 

Residence of Phineas C. Lounsbury, Esq. 

" " " " " — East View. 

Battle-ground, April 27th, 1777. 

A. Resseguie's Hotel. 

Residence of Dr. D. L. Adams — Late Residence of Col. Philip B. 
Bradley. 

Residence of Hon. Joshua I. King. 

Congregational Church. 

St. Stephen's Church. 

Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Congregational Church, Ridgebury. 

The " Peter Parley" House — Residence of Wm. O. Seymour, Esq. 

Residence of Mrs. Nathan Smith. 

Residence of Henry E. Hawley, Esq. 

Residence of John W. Rockwell, Esq. — Battle-ground in the dis- 
tance. 

Town House, erected 1S76. 

The Lake View from West Mountain — Waccabuc in the distance. 
'The Hawley Homestead " — Residence of Mrs. Irad Halsey. 



INTRODUCTION. 



There are those who love Ridgefield. No other word fully 
expresses their regard for the old town. Every thing done 
in it is of consequence, every thing written about it is of 
interest. They read and forget to criticise. They recog- 
nize in every incident of its history a gem ; rough and un- 
cut though it be, or tossed from its native bed by stranger 
hand, it is nevertheless a gem — fancy will brighten it and 
memory will set it. For stick I have written. 

A residence of nearly seven years in this beautiful town 
has greatly endeared it to me. Its hills and valleys have 
grown as familiar as the faces of its people, and if what I 
have written shall in any way contribute to the pleasure of 
my readers, I can assure them that on my part it has been 
also a pleasure to write. 

No claim is made to originality. It has been my purpose 
to collect xvithcx than to compose; to procure from all avail- 
able sources such fragments of history as related to the town 
and arrange them in the most convenient order. The Town 
Records have been carefully searched, and such portions se- 
lected as were thought of greatest interest and value. The 
Colonial Records, so far as published, have also been ex- 
amined. 

In short, every available means of information has been 
made use of, and I would take this opportunity to express 
my sincere thanks to those who have so kindly aided me in 



2 IN TROD UC TION. 

every possible way. Especially do I desire to acknowledge 
my indebtedness to Mr. Elijah Thomas, Mr. Gould Rock- 
well, Mr. George Boughton, and Town Clerk Hiram K. 
Scott, Esq. 

I am also greatly indebted to the " Library Association 
of the Athenaeum" of Hartford, to " Hollister's History of 
Connecticut," which I esteem the most accurate as well as 
the most enjoyable history of the State, and to S. G. Good- 
rich's " Recollections of a Lifetime," which gives in the 
most pleasing manner the romance of the town. 

The necessity for collecting as speedily as possible all 
items of history must be apparent to every one who for a 
moment considers the rapidity with which the opportunities 
for information are being diminished. Records grow old 
and fade out. Men grow old and die. Since the work was 
commenced several of our oldest inhabitants, whom I con- 
sulted on various points, have passed away. Every year re- 
duces the ranks of those who have received directly from 
their i)arents and grand-parents the recollections and tra- 
ditions which help so much to explain incidents of history. 

If what I have written shall seem to deal too largely with 
the simple statement of fact, of " unvarnished truth," an 
apology may be found in the desire to give only that which 
should be of actual utility. My personal friends will also 
consider that I have written in the immediate shadow of a 
great sorrow. In the quiet shade of our cemetery is a grave 
whose making has left my house unto me desolate ; my 
interest in the town is thereby insured. It will be of all 
places on God's fair earth the most sacred to me while life 
lasts, and no less sacred at death, for here I too hope to lie 
down to rest " ^vhen the night cometh." 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



CHAPTER I. 

SURVEY AND PURCHASE OF TOWN TRACT. 

In the month of May, 1708, a number of the in- 
habitants of the town of Norwalk petitioned General 
Assembly, then in session at Hartford, to grant them 
" libertie to purchase of the Indians a certain tract of 
land, bounded south on Norwalk bounds, north-east 
on Danbury, and west upon York line." 

Such "libertie" was granted the said petitioners 
" provided it doth not prejudice any former grant ; 
this Assembly reserving to themselves a power for the 
settlement and allotment of the land so to be purchased 
among the petitioners, and such others as the said 
General Assembly shall judge meet." 

On the 30th of September, 1708, such a purchase 
was made, as the following deed will show : 

" To all people to whom these presents shall Come Greeting &^c. 
Know ye that I Catoonah Sachem of Ramapoo Indians and Associ- 
ates within her Majesties province of New York in America. For & 
in Consideration of y" sum of One Hundred Pounds as current money 
of said province. To us in hand before the ensealing hereof well and 
Truly Paid by John Belden, Samuell Keeler Sen^ Matthew Seamor 
James Brown Benjamin Wilson, Joseph Birchard, John Whitne Sen^ 



4 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Matthias Saint John Benjamin Hickcock, John Beebe Samuel 
Saint John, John Bouton Joseph Keeler, Samuel Smith Junior, Jona- 
than Stevens, Daniel! Olmsted, Richard Olmsted, John Stirdevant, 
Samuel Keeler Jun', Joseph Bouton, Jonathan Rockwell, Edmond 
Wareing, Joseph Whitne, Daniel Halt, Thomas Hyott, James Bene- 
dick, Joseph Crampton, Ebenezer Sension, Matthew Saint John, all of 
the Town of Norwalk in y* County of Fairfield, within her Majesties 
Colony of Connecticot in New England, and Thomas Smith, Thomas 
Canfield, & Samuell Smith, of the Town of Milford in y" County of 
Newhaven & Colonic aforesaid. The Receipt whereof we do 
hereby acknowledg, and our selves therewith fully Satisfied, and Con- 
tented, and thereof and of every part and percell thereof Do Exon- 
erat Acquitt & discharge the said John Belden, Samuell Keeler 
Sen'', Matthew Seamor, James Brown, Benjamin Wilson, Joseph 
Birchard, John Whitne Sen^ Matthias Saint John, Benjamin Hick- 
cock, John Beebe, Samuell Saint John, John Bouton, Joseph Keeler, 
Samuell Smith, Jonathan Stevens, Daniell Olmsted, Richard Olm- 
sted, John Stirdevant, Samuell Keeler Jun'', Joseph Bouton, Jona- 
than Rockwell, Edmond Wareing, Joseph Whitne, Daniell Hait, 
Thomas Hyott, James Bennedick, Joseph Crampton, Ebenezer Sen- 
sion, Matthew Saint John, Thomas Smith, Thomas Canfield, and 
Samuel Smith, their heirs executors, administrators forever by these 
presents. Have given, granted bargained, sold Alowed Conveyed 
and Confirmed, and by these presents Do freely fully and absolutely 
give grant bargain sell, Aliene Convey and Confirm unto them the 
said John Belden, Samuell Keeler Jun'', Matthew Seamor, James 
Brown, Benjamin Wilson, Joseph Birchard, John Whitne Sen', Mat- 
thias Saint John, Benjamin Hickcock, John Beebe, Samuell Saint 
John, John Bouton, Joseph Keeler, Samuell Smith, Jonathan Ste- 
vens, Daniell Olmsted, Richard Olmsted, John Stirdevant, Samuell 
Keeler, Joseph Bouton, Jonathan Rockwell, Edmond Wareing, Joseph 
Whitne, Daniel Hait, Thomas Hyott, James Bennedick, Joseph Cramp- 
ton, Ebenezer Sension, Matthew Saint John, Thomas Smith, Thomas 
Canfield. and Samuell Smith, their Associates heirs and assigns for- 
ever. A Certain Tract of Land Scituat Lying and being so esteamed 
within her Majesties Colony of Conecticott aforesaid Butted and 
Bounded as followeth, at a Rock with stones Lay'd thereon that lyeth 
upon y" west side of Norwalk River about twenty rod northward of 
the Crossing or where Danbury old Cart path Crosseth the River 
which said Rock is the South East Corner and from said Corner a 
line Runneth upwards unto Umpewange pond to a White Oak Tree, 



SURVEY AMD PURCHASE. "5 

Standing by the Northwest Corner of said Pond, the said tree being 
marked and Stones Lay'd about it and is the North East Corner, and 
from the said Corner Tree, another line Running near Two points to 
the North of West into a pond Called Nesopack and Continues y" Same 
Coarse untill it meets with a second pond Called Aokkeels, Crossing 
by y" south End of both ponds, and from thence Running Near West 
untill it Extends to a place Called Mamanasquag, where is a Oak Tree 
Marked on y" North Side of the outlet of water that Comes out from a 
sort of a grassy pond, which is known and Called by Said Name, 
which tree is the North West Corner, and from said Tree another line 
Runing South bearing to y' East About one mile and half. Runing 
by y East side of another Mountain Called Asoquatah untill it meets 
Stanford Bound line, about a quarter of a mile to y" Eastward of Cross 
River pond, where stands a Marked White Oak tree with Stones 
about it, and is y** South West Corner, and from Said Marked tree a 
long by Stanford line untill it Comes to Norwalk purchase and so by 
Said Purchase Bounds to the Said Rock at the South East Corner. 
Containing by Estimation Twenty Thousand Acres, be it more or less. 
The Four Corners of Said Tract of Land being Called by the following 
Indian Names South East Corner ' Wheer Cock ' North East Cor- 
ner ' Wononkpakoonk ' North West Corner ' Mamanasquag ' South 
West Corner ' Narahawmis.' 

" To Have and to Hold, the Said granted and bargained premises 
with al^ the appurtenances priviledges, and Comodities to the same, 
belonging or in anywise Appertaining to them y** Above Named per- 
sons their Associates heirs and assigns forever, to them and their 
only proper Use bennefitt and behoof forever. And I the Said 
Catoonah and Associats for ourselves our heirs Executors, admin- 
istrators. Do Covenant promise and grant to and with the above Said 
persons their associates heirs and assigns, that before the Ensealing 
hereof. We are the true Sole and Lawful! Owners of y" above bar- 
gained premises and by Native Right Seized and possessed of the 
Same in our own proper Right as a Good perfect and Absolute Estate 
of Inheritance in fee Simple and have in Ourselves good Right full 
power and Sufficient Authority to grant bargain Sell Convey and 
Confirms said Bargained premises in manner as above said, and 
that the said John Belden, and the rest above said their Associats 
heirs and assigns Shall and may from time to time, and at all times 
forever hereafter, by force and virtue of these presents Lawfully and 
peaceably and quietly Have, Hold, Use, Occupie, possess and injoy 
the said Demissed and bargained premisses. 



6 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

"With the appurtenances free and Clear, and freely and Clearely 
Aquitted Exonerated & Discharged of from all and all Manner of 
former and other gifts grants bargains, Sales Leasses Mortgages, 
Wills, Intails Joynters Dowries Judgements Executions Incumbrances 
& Extents. 

" Furthermore I the said Catoonah and Asociates for ourselves 
our heirs Executors administrators Do Covenant and Ingage y" 
above Demissed premisses to them the said John Belden, and the rest 
above said, their Associates heirs and assigns, against the LawfuU 
Claims, or Demands of any person or persons whatsoever, forever 
hereafter to Warrent secure and Defend. 

" In Witness whereof we have hereuntp Sett our hands and Seals 
this Thirtieth Day of September in the Seventh year of the Reign of 
our Sovereign Lady Ann Queen of England &c. and in y" year of our 
Lord God, 1708. 

" Signed Sealed and Delivered in presence of 
John Holmes, Jr., Catoonah, Gootquas, Wawkamawwee. 
Joseph Seeley, Woquacomick, Mahke, Naraneka. 

John Copp, Waspahchain, Tawpornick, Cawwehorin. 

" This Above Written Bill of Sale is acknowledged by y" Grantors 
this 30th Day of September 170S. 

" Before me, SAMUEL HAIT, 

" ynstice of Peace. '^ 

The purchase having been made, General Assem- 
bly, in session at Hartford, May, 1709, appointed 
Major Peter Burr, of Fairfield, John Copp, of Nor- 
walk, and Josiah Starr, of Da-nbury, a committee to 
make a survey of the aforesaid tract of land, and to 
lay it out for a town plat, and to make return to the 
General Assembly at New Haven in the following 
October " of their doings therein, and of their opin- 
ion how many inhabitants the said tract of land may 
admit and contain." 

This was accordingly done, and the following grant 
was made by General Assembly in session at New 
Haven, October 13th, 1709. 



SURVEY AND PURCHASE. 7 

" WHEREAS, the Generall Assembly of this Colon} ,H olden at Hart- 
ford May 13"' 170S — Upon the petition of Sundry of the Inhabitants of 
the town of Norvvalk praying for liberty to purchase of the Indians a 
certain Tract of Land lying within this Colony Bounded Northerly and 
Northeasterly with the Town of Danbury, Southerly with the Said 
Town of Norwalk and West or Westerly with y' line or boundary be- 
tween this Colony & y* province of New York, to the end they might 
make a Plantation there, and settle upon the Same — Did Grant to the 
said Petitioners a liberty to purchase the same Tract of Land. 

" And pursuant thereto y*" said Petitioners did buy and purchase of 
Catoonah a Sachem — and other Indians the aforesaid tract of Land as 
by their Deed of Conveyance thereof under their hands and Seals bear- 
ing Date September 30 1708 now laid before this Assembly had been 
made appear. And whereas the General Assembly of this Colony 
Holden at Hartford, May y" 12"', 1709. Did desire and Impower 
Major Peter Burr M'' John Copp, and M'' Josiah Starr to make a Sur- 
vey of the said tract of Land and to lay out a Town Piatt there and to 
Make Return of their doings therein to this Assembly at this time, and 
the said Peter Burr & John Copp in pursuance thereof, haveing taken 
a view of the said Tract of Land, & have thereupon made a Return or 
Report thereof to this Assembly which hath been read and Con- 
sidered. 

" This Assembly Do now give and Grant to the said petitioners, that 
is to say to the Persons hereafter named viz John Belden Samuel Keeler 
Sen\ Matthew Seamor Matthias St John, Benjamin Wilson Samuel 
St John James Brown Benjamin Hickcock Joseph Keeler, Samuel 
Keeler J'' Samuel Smith Matthew St John Jonathan Stevens Daniel 
Olmstead John Sturdevant Jonathan Rockwell Joseph Whitney Thomat 
Hyatt James Benedict Joseph Crampton & Richard Olmstead of the 
said Town of Norwalk and Thomas Smith Thomas Canfield Samuel 
Smith & Ebenezer Smith of y Town of Milford, and to their heirs and 
assigns forever. All the afore'Mentioned Tract or Parcel of Land But- 
ted & Bounded as foUoweth, that is to say, On the South or Southerly 
with the said Town of Norwalk, On the West or Westerly with the line 
or boundary between this Colony and the Province of New York, On the 
East or Easterly partly with the line to be continued and Run like unto 
the line between y" said Town of Norwalk and the Town of Fairfield 
from the North End thereof unto a certain black Oak tree marked with 
Letters and haveing Stones layed about the Same Standing upon the 
Mountain, commonly caled the West Cedar Mountain and partly with 
a direct and Strait line to be run from said Black Oak Tree to a certain 



8 HISTORY OF RJDGEFIELD. 

Large White Oak Tree marked and having Stones layed about it Stand- 
ing at or near the North West Corner of Umpewange pond. And on 
the North or Northerly with a direct Strait Line to be run from the 
said White Oak Tree to the South Westerly Corner of the Town of Dan- 
bury and continued unto the Said Line or Boundary between this Colony 
and the Province of New York be the said Tract of Land more or Less, 
With all and Singular the rights Members and appurtenances thereof. 
And this Assembly do hereby Enact & Grant That the said Tract of 
Land shall be an Intire Township of it self, and shall be Called and 
Known by the name of Ridgfield, and shall be held and enjoyed by the 
said John Belden Samuel Keeler Sen"' Matthew Seamor Matthias St 
John Benjamin Wilson Samuel St John James Brown Benjamin Hick- 
ock Joseph Keeler Samuel Keeler J'' Samuel Smith Matthew St. John 
Jonathan Stevens Daneel Olmstead John Sturdevant Jonathan Rock- 
well Joseph Whitney Thomas Hyatt, James Benedict Joseph Cramp- 
ton and Richard Olmstead of Norwalk and Thomas Smith Thomas 
Canfield Samuel Smith and Ebenezer Smith of the Town of Milford 
and their heirs and Assigns in Equal and Even Shares, & be divided 
accordingly into lotts and parcells from time to time by the Order of 
the Major Vote of them, to be accounted by the Major part of interests 
therein. Provided that this act shall not be construed to the prejudice 
of any former Grant of this Court and provided always — Nevertheless 
that if the said John Belden Samuel Keeler Sen'' Matthew Seamor 
Matthew St John Benjamn Wilson Samuel St John James Brown Ben- 
jamin Hickock Joseph Keeler Samuel Keeler J'' Samuel Smith Matthew 
St John Jonathan Stevens Daneel Olmstead John Sturdevant Jonathan 
Rockwell Joseph Whitney Thomas Hyatt James Bennedick Joseph 
Crampton and Richard Olmstead Thomas Smith Thomas Canfield 
Samuel Smith and Ebenezer Smith their heirs assigns or associates. 
Do not or shall not within four Years next after the date of this act or 
Grant, Settle or Dwell upon the said tract of Land to y'' number of 
twenty Eight families, and after continue and Dwell there for the Space 
of four Years next following, that then it shall be in the Liberty and 
power of this Assembly to grant of the said Tract of Land Settlement 
to any other persons as they shall se cause." 

" A true copy of Record 

"Test 

"CALEB STANLY, Secretary:' 

The patent was not issued until the year 17 14, and 
reads as follows : 



SURVEY AND PURCHASE. 9 

" WHEREAS the Governour, Councill and Representatives of Her 
Majesties Colony of Connectlcutt In New England in General Court 
assembled, Did by an Act bearing Date Octob"" 13"' Anno Domini 
1709, Grant unto John Belden, Samuel Keeler Sen'', Matthew Sea- 
more, Matthias Saintjohn, Benjamin Willson, Samuel Saintjohn, 
James Brown, Benjamin Hickcock, Joseph Keller, Samuel Keeler, 
Jun'', Sam' Smith, Matthew Saintjohn, Jonathan Stevens, Daneel 
Olmsted, John Sturdevant, Jonathan Rockwell, Joseph Whitne, Thomas 
Hyatt, James Benedict, Joseph Crampton, and Richard Olmsted, 
all of y** Town of Norwalk, in y County of Fairfield in y" Colony 
aforesaid, and Thomas Smith, Thomas Canfield, Samuel Smith, and 
Ebenez'' Smith of the Town of Milford in y" County of New Haven, in 
y" Colony aforesaid, One Certain Tract of land, as by the said act doth 
full appear, the same tract of land, being situate, butted, and bounded 
as in the said act and Grant is Expressed, Viz, On y*^ South or 
Southerl-y with y'' said Town of Norwalk, On the West, or westerly with 
the line or boundary between this Colony and the Province of New 
York, On the East or Eastwardly partly with a line to be Continued 
and run like unto the line between the said Town of Norwalk and the 
Town of Fairfield, from the North end thereof unto a black Oak tree 
mark't with letters & having stones laid about the same. Standing upon 
the mountain Commonly Called y west Cedar mountain, and partly 
with a direct and streight line to be run from the said black Oak tree to 
a Certain large white Oak Tree mark't, and having stones laid about it. 
Standing at or Near the Norwest Corner of Umpawaug Pond, and on the 
North or Northely with a direct Strait line to be run from y* said white 
Oak Tree to the Southwest Corner of the Town of Danbury and Contin- 
ued unto the said line or boundary between this Colony, and the Prov- 
ince of New York, be the same Tract of land more or less, all which ap- 
pears by the aforesaid Act, And Whereas they, the said John Belden, 
Samuel Keelar Sen'', Matthew Seamore, Matthias Saintjohn, Ben- 
jamin Willson, Sam' St. John, James Brown, Benjamin Hickcock, 
Joseph Keeler, Sam' Keeler Jun'', Sam' Smith, Matthew Saintjohn 
Jonathan Stevens, Daniel Olmsted, John Sturdevant, Jonathan Rock- 
well, Joseph Whitne, Thomas Hyatt, James Benedict, Joseph Cramp- 
ton, and Richard Olmstedd, Thomas Smith, Thomas Canfield, Samuel 
Smith, and Ebenez'' Smith pursuant to the law Title, the Tenure of 
Our lands, have made application for a Pattent, for the Confirmation 
of the said Tract of land to them, their heirs and assigns. Know all 
men Therefore by these presents, that the Governour and Company 
of Her Majestic To Colony of Connecticutt by Virtue of the Power 



lO HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Granted to them, by our Late Soveraign Lord King Charles the 
Second, of blessed memory in and by his said Majesties Lett" Pattents 
under the Great Seal of England bearing Date the Twenty third day 
of Aprill in the fourteenth year of his Reign ; Have Given, Granted, 
Ratified and Confirmed, and by these presents, Do Give Grant, Ratifie 
and Confirm both for themselves, their heirs and Successors, unto the 
said John Belden, Samuel Keeler Sen'', Matthew Seamore, Matthias 
S' John, Benjamin Willson, Sam' St John, James Brown, Benjamin 
Hickcock, Joseph Keeler, Sam' Keeler Jun', Sam' Smith, Matthew St 
John, Jonathan Stevens Daniel Olmstedd, John Sturdevant, Jonathan 
Rockwell, Joseph Whitne, Thomas Hyatt, James Benedict, Joseph 
Crampton, and Richard Olmsted, Thomas Smith, Thomas Canfield, 
Sam'' Smith and Ebenez'' Smith and to their heirs and Assigns for ever 
all, and singular the above mentioned Tract of land and Every part 
thereof, with all and Singular rights proffitts, privilidges Commodities, 
Emoluments and appurtenances what forever To the said Tract of 
land belonging or in any wise apportaining. To Have And To Hold 
the said Tract of land, and every part thereof unto them the said 
John Belden, Samuel Keeler Sen'', Matthew Seamore, Matthias St 
John, Benjamin Willson, Sam' Saintjohn, James Brown, Benjamin 
Hickcock, Joseph Keeler, Samuel Keeler Jun"', Sam' Smith, Matthew 
Saintjohn, Jonathan Stevens, Daniel Olmsted, John Sturdevant, 
Jonathan Rockwell, Joseph Whitne, Thomas Hyatt, James Benedict, 
Joseph Crampton and Richard Olmstedd, Thomas Smith, Thomas 
Canfield, Samuel Smith and Ebenez'' Smith and To their heirs and 
assigns forever and to their Only proper benefitt and behoof, from the 
day of the date hereof, and from time to time and att all times forever 
hereafter as a good, sure, lawfull, absolute, and Indefeafable Estate 
of inheritance in Fee Simple, without any Condition Limitation use or 
other thing to alter, or make void the same. And in such Shares and 
in such proportions, as they either already have or hereafter shall 
agree for y* Division and partition of the same. To Hold of her Majes- 
tic, Her heirs and Successors, as of her Majesties Mannor of East 
Greenwich in the County of Kent, in the Kingdom of England in free 
and Common socage, and not in Capitee, Nor by Knights service 
Yielding and paying therefor to Our Soveraign Lady the Queen her 
heirs and Successors forever. Only y fifth psrrt of all the Oar of Gold 
and Silver which from Time to Time and att all times forever hereafter 
Shall be there Gotten had or obtained, in Lieu of all Services, Duties 
and demands what forever according to Charter. In Witness whereof 
we have caused the Seal of the Colony to be hereunto affixed in Hart- 



SURVEY AND PURCHASE. 11 

ford y" Twenty second day of May in the Thirteenth year of the reign 
of Our Soveraign Lady Anne, by the Grace of God, Queen of Great 
Brittain France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith &c Anno Domini 
1714." 

"G: SALTONSTALL Governor 
" By His Hon"* Command 

Hez: Wyllys Sccry. 

' ' Recorded in y" Publick records of y' Colony of Connecticutt Second 
book of entries of Pattents and Surveys of lands Folio 52, 53, 54. 

" p' Hez: Wyllys Secreti." 



CHAPTER II. 

SETTLEMENT. 

After purchasing the town tract, the next thing 
in order was to settle it. This the petitioners pro- 
ceeded at once to do. It had previously been called 
by the Indians Caudatozva, or high-land. This name 
was probably suggested by a north and south ridge, 
situated nearly in the geographical centre of the town, 
and rising to the height of eight hundred feet above 
the level of the sea — the same ridge which gave it its 
present name. 

The proprietors at once fixed upon this ridge as 
the most desirable point at which to begin a settle- 
ment. A street six rods wide was surveyed, to run 
north and south along the eastern declivity of the 
ridge, and on either side of the street ; home lots of 
two and one half acres were laid out, and in the rear of 
these, additional lots of five acres, making in all seven 
and one half acres. 

After the lots had been surveyed and numbered, 
that there might be no favoritism shown, but that all 
•might share equally, a lottery was formed of the num- 
bers, and each man was given the lot corresponding to 
the number drawn by him. 

Subsequent divisions were made of the plough land, 
meadow land, and bogs. The following minutes from 
the town records will further explain the order and 
manner of these divisions : 



SE T TLEMENT. I 3 

"The several Acts Relating to y Home Lotts &' the addition made to 
the Same is as folloiveth 

" Nov i^* 1708 Voted by said proprietors that a Commettee shall be 
chosen to Lay out the Town Plott 

" At the Said Meeting the said proprietors by a Major Vote appointed 
and made Choise of M' Samuel Keeler Sen'' Matthew Seamer, Joseph 
Bouton with John Copp to Lay out the Town Plott 

" At the said Meeting Voted by said proprietors that the Home Lotts 
now to be Lay'd out by said Committee shall be Two Acres and one 
half acre. 

" At the said Meeting y" Said Proprietors by a Major Vote Resolves 
and agrees that there shall be a Division of Land added to the Rear of 
the Home Lotts to the Number of five acres to Each Division. And 
the said Committee is Impowered to act their best Skill & Judgement 
to Equalize the Want of quality by adding or allowing quantity to such 
Home Lotts & Division of Addition as they in judgement may find 
wanting 

" At a Meeting of the said Proprietors Convened in Norwalk Nov 
y 8"' 1708 

" The above said Committee makes a Return of their doings in and 
about the Home Lotts »& y" addition made to y" Rear of y" same. 
With an account of such Disproportion of their quality, that by all that 
they had done in y" matter of equalizing them there still needed a fur- 
ther Allowance to some Lotts as they were by them Layd out with the 
Division added to y" Rear of them 

" Upon which Return made by said Committee The said proprietors 
at y*" said meeting by a Major Vote Impower said Committee to Reg- 
ulate that matter according to y' best of their judgements to add to 
such Home Lotts & Division annexed. Or to any other Division of 
Lands to be Lay'd out to any such proprietor, to whom such Home 
Lott with y" anext Division shall fall to when Drawn, that by said 
Committee shall be Judged Wanting in quality with the Generality of 
y*" best of the Home Lots and annext Divisions 

"At a meeting of y said Proprietors Convenied in Norwalk 
November y" 25 1708 

" Voted by Said proprietors that the Lotterie prepared for y® Distribu- 
tion of the Home Lotts with y'' anext Division, unto the said proprie- 
tors Shall at this time be Drawn, Which Lottery is methodized as fol- 
loweth 

" Beginning on the East Tear of Lotts, y southermost Lott joining to 
the Land Lay'd out for a burying Yard — Calling that Lott the first in 



No. 




No. 


I 


Samuel Saint John 


14 


2 


Samuel Keeler Jun' 


15 


3 


Jonathan Rockwell 


i6 


4 


Thomas Caufield 


17 


5 


The Proprietors Reserve 


i8 


6 


Matthias Saint John 


19 


7 


Joseph Whitney 


20 


8 


Samuel Smith of Milford 


21 


9 


James Brown 


22 


lO 


John Belden 


23 


II 


Richard Olmsted 


24 


12 


Thomas Smith 


25 


13 


Jonathan Stevens 





14 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD 

Number, & sucsevively Northward to the 12'^'' Lott and then begining 
at y" Northermost Lott on the West tear numbering said Lott y" thir- 
teenth Lott and so sucsessively Southward to the Twenty fifth Lott. 
" The Draught of which Lottery was as_followeth . 

John Sturdevant 
Thomas Hyot 
Benjamin Wilson 
Benjamin Hickock 
Matthew Saint John 
Joseph Keeler 
Matthew Seamer 
James Bennedick 
Joseph Crampton 
Samuel Smith 
Daniel Olmsted 
Samuel Keeler Sen' 



It is a matter of interest to locate the original lots. 
The actual number of feet fronting.the street, as well 
as the exact boundary of each division, is not cer- 
tainly known, and cannot at this late day be positively 
determined ; but the relative location of the lots in al- 
most every instance may be ascertained by consulting 
carefully the town records. 

Lot No. I was where Mr. John S. Keeler now resides. 
No. 2 was immediately north of this, and lying between 

it and the corner south of Mr. Abraham Holmes's. 
Nos. 3 and 4 extended from Mr. Abraham Holmes's to 

the present residence of Mrs. Mary Hatch. 
No. 5 was the one now owned and occupied by Mrs. 

Irad Hawley. 
No. 6 extended from the south side of Mr. Henry E. 

Hawley 's residence to the north side of Mr. Joshua 

I. King's garden. 
No. 7 extended from the north side of Mr. King's gar- 



SE T TLEMEN T. I 5 

den to the corner of the street north of Mr. Sereno 

Hurlbutt's residence. 
No. 8 was the lot now owned and occupied by Phineas 

Lounsbury, Esq. 
No. 9 is now occupied by Philip L. Barhite, Esq., and 

Dr. William S. Todd. 
No. 10 extended from the fence south of Mrs. Hyatt's 

house to the fence north of Mr. Samuel J. Barlow. 
No. II embraced the Town-House lot, Mr. L. C. Sey- 
mour's house and store, and Mrs. Wescott's house. 
No. 12 extended from the residence of the late Josiah 

Danchy, Esq., to the road north of Mr. Isaac Os- 

born's. 
No. 13 included the present residences of Mr. Henry 

Mead, Mr. Elijah L. Thomas, and Mr. Keeler 

Danchy. 
Nos. 14, 15, 16, 17 extended from the fence north of 

the Episcopal Church to the corner south of the 

residence of J. Howard King, Esq. 
Nos. 18, 19, 20, 21 extended from the road north of 

Mrs. Sarah Jewitt's to the one south of Mr. David 

K. Hoyt's. 
Nos. 23, 24, 25 extended from the corner now occu- 
pied by the carriage manufactory of Mr. Ebenezer 

Jones, to the fence south of the residence of Mr. 

William Benedict. 

It will be observed that lot No. 22 is omitted in this 
reckoning ; the reason for which is found in the fact 
that it nowhere appears on our town records after it 
was numbered and drawn. The inference is that it 
was thrown out ; for we find Mr. Joseph Crampton, 
who drew the lot, located on the land now owned by 
Mrs. Shaw and Mr. L. O. Northrop. 



I 6 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

The next spring, after the division of the home lots, 
the proprietors proceeded to divide such parts of the 
outlying lands as would be most suitable for grazing, 
ploughing, and mowing, sharing equally in each. 

The following will show the method of such division : 

'' At a Meeting of said proprietors Convened March V^ 1708' 
" The proprietors, by a Major Vote do agree upon a Division of Plow 
Land to be Lay'd out as soon as may be 

" At the said Meeting the Proprietors by a Major Vote have chosen 
M'' Samuel Keeler Sen'' Matthias Saint John and Samuel Smith for 
their Committee — To take a view of what Lands 'are suitable to Lay 
out for a Division of Plow Land within the Limits of One Mile and a 
half from the Center of the Town Plott, and Lay out what Land they 
so find into such Divisions as the Land will allow according to the num- 
ber of proprietors." 

" At a meeting Convened of said Proprietors March 28"' 1709 
"The said Committee make Return of their Doings on the Land 
. found within y*' Limits stated in y" Vote passed March the i"' as above 
said, fixing upon six acres to a Division, and accordingly to their best 
skill and Judgement have Lay'd out a number of Divisions equal to 
the number of proprietors, allowing to some Divisions more measure 
than y*" fixt quantity to equalize them with the better Divisions." 

It will be observed in every instance that the quality 
of the land determined the quantity. No home lot fell 
below two and one half acres, but it might consist of 
three or three and one half acres if it was deemed of 
poor quality. So also the five-acre lots in the rear 
might have five acres in them, or more. Then there 
would be sections of land not reckoned, and these 
might lie between two divisions ; afterward to be ap- 
propriated to some new-comer. This would apply to 
the outlying lands rather than to the village lots. 

In the spring of 1709, on the 22d of April, Ebenezer 
Smith, of Milford, by a major vote of the proprietors, 
was permitted to come in and share equally with the 



SETTLEMENT. 



17 



twenty-five. He settled on the lot where George 
Smith, Esq., now resides. This property has never 
passed out of the Smith family. 

Joseph Benedict, of Norwalk, was admitted in like 
manner on the 31st of the following October. He set- 
tled on the lot lying between Mr. William Benedict's 
and Mr. L. O. Northrop's, or, as originally desig- 
nated, between Mr. Samuel KeelSr's and Mr. Joseph 
Crampton's. 

In anticipation of their necessities as a town, a reser- 
vation was made of one twenty-eighth part of all the 
purchased lands for a blacksmith. 

In the year 171 2 the proprietors took the following 
action in reference to Mr. Benjamin Burt : 

" At a Mcetiiii:; of the Proprietors of Rutge field at Ridge field May the 
6"' A.D. 1712 

" The said proprietors by their Major Vote Do Grant to M'. Benja- 
min Burt now resident of Norwalk, a certain Right of Lands, Reserved 
by them for a Blacksmith, which Right of land contains one twenty 
eighth part of all the purchased Land contained within the limits of 
their granted propriety or Township With also a priviledge to pur- 
chase with them a like part or proportion of the unpurchased lands 
that lyeth within y'^ granted Bounds of their Township (of the Native 
proprietors thereof) with al the Several Divisions already Layed out 
under said Right. 

" To be to him, his heirs and assigns absolutely and as fully to have 
To Have Hold, use occupie possess and injoy in as full and free a 
manner, with the rest of the proprietors of said Granted Township, 
Provided he the said Benjamin Burt, pay to Joseph Keeler of said 
Town of Ridgfield y'' sum of nine pounds in money according to the 
agreement now made with him, And with all convenient speed dwell 
as an inhabitant among them in order to carry on the trade of a Black- 
smith among them, And forthwith Supply them with an able hand, to 
perform such Smith work for them, that they stand in need of untill 
he shall remove with his family among them and be thereby able to 
perform such work for them himself, or by others under his care and 
Command, And it is to be understood that if the said Burt (shall at 



16 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD 

any time before the full Termination of four Years from May the Ninth 
1712,) have a Mind to remove from them, he shall not give, grant, bar- 
gain, sell Directly nor Indirectly make any Alienation of said Right of 
Land granted to him, but to such a person as shall be found capable 
to carry on the work of a Blacksmith among them. And further the 
said Burt doth hereby promise and Oblidge himself faithfully to use 
his utmost endeavour to settle a Blacksmith on-said Right. If he shall 
incline to remove from them after his continuence among them y 
term of Years above said 

" The above said y'" original Draught of said act 

"Test RICHARD OLMSTED Town Clerk 

" Recorded November 28, 1712 

" Per me JOHN COPP Recorder:' 

Mr. Burt settled on the lot now occupied by the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

It is not certainly known when Rev. Thomas Haw- 
ley came into the town, but he is known to have been 
here in the following year, 17 13. The fact is proven 
by his signature annexed to a deed as a witness. 

On the 30th of January, 1716, the first miller agreed 
with the proprietors to erect a grist mill. The cove- 
nant then entered into with the proprietors, in consid- 
eration of one twenty-ninth part of the purchased 
lands, is as follows, and is known by the name of the 
Mill Covenant : 

" To all Christian People to w/ioin these Presents shall Come Greet- 
ing Know Ye that I Daniel Sherwood of Ridgefield in the County of 
Fairfield and Colony of Connecticut in New England, For and in 
Consideration of a bill of sale of Lands received of the Proprietors of 
Ridgfield and bearing date with these presents, which is to my full sat- 
isfaction. For and upon which consideration aforesaid I the said 
Daniel Sherwood for myself heirs and assigns. Do by these presents, 
engage unto and Covenant with y"^ said Proprietors of Ridgfield their 
heirs assigns, and associates, for the faithfull punctual, universal fullfil- 
ment of this Covenant, following in every Condition Clause and article 
hereof viz. 

" Imprimis, I y" said Daniel Sherwood do engage for myself heirs 



SETTLEMENT. 



19 



and assigns to erect a good sufficient Grist Mill on the Outlet of Mama- 
nasguog Pond so called and known by the Proprietors of Ridgfield. 

" 2*^17 I declare myself bound hereby to maintain y" same and uphold 
it (or another in the same place) always in good rigg, and order for 
grinding. 

" 3''ly I covenant for myself heirs and assigns upon y"=Teusdays and 
Fridays of every week (when ever water may be had by y'' use of 
means) to grind for said Proprietors, their heirs assigns and associates 
all sorts of their grain, well and sufficiently, making good and well 
conditioned meal, and to take but, and no more, than three quarts 
out of each bushel of Indian corn, and two quarts out of each bushel 
of wheat or rye, and one quart of each bushel of malt (that I my heirs 
or assigns shall grind) for toll. 

" Fourthly What was of grain shall be brought to y'^ said Mill by the 
said proprietors, their heirs assigns or associates on the forementioned 
grinding days, more than can be ground on said days, that it shall on 
the next following week days be ground without delay, and the said 
Sherwood do hereby bind and oblige myself heirs and assigns that 
whatever grain shall be brought on or before any of the said grinding 
days (on any day) more than the mill grinds on said days, shall be 
ground out of hand, whether men wait and attend on the grinding 
thereof or not. 

" Furthermore, (according to the original intent of both parties) I y" 
said Sherwood do bind and Oblige myself heirs and assigns by virtue 
of this Covenant (in case of failure and nonperformance of every 
clause, article and condition according to plain intent, or upon neg- 
lect of due means, and all thorough, seasonable, and faithfull endeav- 
ours upon any breaches whatsoever, to rectify keep and maintain y 
same with every thing necessary and essential thereunto, in good trim 
and order, for -the ends before, covenanted, and accordingly improve 
it) I say I the said Sherwood by virtue hereof, do bind myself heirs 
and assigns to forfeit and deliver up y" said Mill and Stream unto the 
said proprietors with all its properties and appurtenances and privi- 
ledges whatsoever in anywise thereunto, shall at the time of forfeiture 
appertain, hereby Covenanting not to export or carry away any par; 
property or utensill whatsoever thereunto belonging and do upon con- 
dition of failure in covenant for myself heirs and assigns give unto the 
said Proprietors of Ridgfield their heirs and assigns all full power and 
authority to enter upon possess and enjoy the same ; and to convert 
and improve it, to what end and use soever they please by virtue of 
these presents. In Testimony whereof I do bind myself heirs and 



20 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

assigns, set to my hand and seal this thirtieth day of January anno 
Dominis 1716" 

" DANIEL SHERWOOD [seal] 
" In presence of us 
Joseph Platt 
Ebenezer Barnum 

" Ridgfield Jan' 30"' 1716" Personally Ap- 
peared Daniel Sherwood y'= subscriber to 
this instrument and did acknowledge it for 
to be his free act and deed before me 

"JOSEPH PLATT, Justice 

" Received to Record and Recorded \ 
Jany 30"' 1716''' per me f 

" Thomas Hauley Register.'' 

Mr. Daniel Sherwood erected his mill as designated 
on the outlet of Mamanasco Lake, and was appropri- 
ated a home lot immediately north of Mr. Benjamin 
Burt's. 

This completed the number of the original twenty- 
nine proprietors of the town. 



CHAPTER III. 

FURTHER PURCHASES FROM THE INDIANS. 

On the i8th of March, 171 5, the proprietors made 
a second purchase of lands from the Indians, as the fol- 
lowing deed will show : 

''' KnoTv all men by these presents that I Tackora alias Oreneca, In- 
dian, one of the native proprietors and owners of these tracts of un- 
purchased lands Lying above Ridgefield in y" County of Fairfield and 
Colony of Connecticut in New England for and in consideration of 
four pounds Current money of y" Colony of Connecticut to me in hand 
paid, or secured to be paid by y" proprietors of the Town of Ridgfield 
in the County and Colony aforesaid viz M' Richard Osburn Samuel 
Saint John Benjamin Wilson Thomas Smith Thomas Hauley Jonah 
Keeler, Timothy Keeler Nor'' Samuel Smith Daniel Olmsted, Jonathan 
Rockwell Benjamin Hayt Henry Whitne Joseph Northrup MilH 
Samuel Smith Joshua Lobdell Moses Northrup Benjamin Benedick, 
Richard Olmsted, Ebenezer Smith James Wallace Daniel Sherwood, 
Benjamin Burt David Scott John Sturdevant Joseph Piatt Milford 
Thomas Hyatt y'' Heirs of Thomas Rockwell deceased Matthew Saint 
John Matthias Saint John Joseph Keeler Matthew Seamer Daniel 
Arrus James Benedict Joseph Benedict James Northrup Joseph Cramp- 
ton and Jonathan Wood, Have and do by these presents freely crearly 
and absolutely Grant Sell and Confirm unto the above named proprie- 
tors of the Town of Ridgefield and their heirs and assigns for ever a 
certain tract or parcel of Land belonging imto me y" said Oreneca 
Lying Situate being bounded as followeth viz beginning at a White 
Wood tree standing about four rods west of y" Mill and stands on the 
north side of the outlett running out of Mamanasquogg pond on which 
the Mill now stands and from thence running by y** said Outlett till 
we come to a small Elm Staddle marked on each side and standing on 
the East side of y" Mill outlett, and from thence over Titicus to a but- 
ternutt tree, and from thence under the Mountain as tis bounded by 
marked trees till we come to a black Oak tree marked on each side, 
thence Elbowing till we come to a marked Bass tree Lying by a brook, 



2 2 H/STOA'Y OF RIDGEFIELD. 

near the lower end of Mopoas Ridge, thence immediately across y" 
brook to a black Oak tree a little below the Lower End of Mopoos 
Ridge, thence over Titicus near a Northwest line as tis bounded by 
trees, to a small black Oak Staddle standing by a small brook, running 
out of the West hills, thence Directly over the brook near a southwest 
line to a white Oak tree under y" mountain with stones laid about the 
same which is a corner boundary and from hence a South or South 
East line as tis bounded to a Small Walnut Staddle standing on a heap 
of rocks, thence something South East down towards y" pond ; thence 
something Eastward between the mountain and Mamanasquogg pond 
to the lower end thereof, over a small run then named punch Brook, 
thence about fourty rods South East to a white Oak tree marked and 
stones Lay'd about the same which was the lower corner meeting with 
the Old Purchase, all which quantity or parcel of Land, I the said 
Oreneca Have Sold and Confirmed unto y'^ above named proprietors 
th^ir heirs and assigns for ever to enjoy y" same in quantity and 
quality, according to each mans interest or propriety of Lands in 
Ridgfield, immediately before the purchase hereof i.e. a half right man 
shall have but half so good an interest in the bargained premises as a 
whole right man shall, (the said James Wallace excepted To Have 
and to Hold unto them y'' said proprietors their heirs and assigns for 
ever, y*" said bargained premises with all the priviledges and Appurte- 
nances thereunto belonging, to the only use benefit and behoof of the 
said proprietors their heirs and assigns for ever, without any Let Claim 
or molestation from me the said Orreneca, alias Tackora or my heirs 
Executors administrators or assigns for ever, or from any person or 
persons, Indian or English or any other by from or under me or them 
whatsoever Laying and Demand Challenge or Claim thereunto and I 
the above named Oreneca do bind myself my heirs Executors and ad- 
ministrators firmly by these presents to free and exonerate all the 
above bargained premises from any former and other Grants, bargains 
mortgages or any other incumbrances Whatsoever. In Witness whereof 
I the said Oreneca have hereunto Set my hand and Seal this iS"' day 

of March anno Domini 1715. 

his 
"ORENECA X «//<« TACKORA. 
viark 
" Signed sealed and delivered 
in presence of us 
Eliphalet Lockwood 
Joseph Pi.att 
OCOMOYVVA X mark 
Consent. '.' 



FURTHER PURCHASES. 23 

" Norwalk within the County of Fairfield March i8th day anno Domini 
1715, Personally appeared Tackora, alias Oreneca, indian the sub- 
scriber to this instrument and did acknowledge it to be his free act and 

deed before me. . ^ 

"JOSEPH PLATT, Justice Peace. 

" Received to Record April 1715 and recorded by me. 

" Thomas Hawley, Register." 

Again, on the 22d day of November, 1721, a third 
purchase was made. The following is the deed : 

" Know all men by these Presents, that I Tackore, otherwise 
Called Norreneca Indian do for and in consideration of the Sum 
of Six Pounds in Money to me in hand paid or secured to be paid 
by the Proprietors of Ridgefield, whose names hereafter follows 
viz Thomas Hawley Richard Osburn Samuel Saint John Benjamin 
Benedict Benjamin Burt Benjamin Stebbins Ebenezer Smith Thomas 
Smith Richard Olmsted Joshua Lobdell Milford Samuel Smith Nathan 
Saint John Henry Whitny Jonathan Rockwell Benjamin Hayt Now'' 
Samuel Smith Daniel Olmstead Timothy Keeler Jonah Keeler Matthew 
Seamore Moses Northrup Jonathan Abbott Allexander Resseguie 
Jonathan Wood, Joseph Benedict James Benedict James Northrup 
Joseph Northrup Joseph Keeler Matthew St John Thomas Rockwells 
Heirs, Benjamin Wilson Thomas Hyatt, John Sturdevant Heirs, 
Joseph Piatt Gideon Piatt Henry Dwight David Scott James Scott 
Daniel Sherwood, Do Give Grant bargain Sell and by these presents 
have given Granted Bargained Sold and fully confirmed unto the 
aforesaid Proprietors viz Thomas Hawley Richard Osborn Samuel 
Saint John Benjamin Burt Benjamin Benedict with all the rest before 
named and to their heirs and assigns for ever, a certain parcel or tract 
of Land lying within y" Pattend bounds and supposed Township of 
said Ridgefield lying and Described as follows viz Beginning upon 
y north side of the Brook at the South End of Titicus or Tomspring 
mountain (so called) at a great Tree marked in the Old purchase line. 
Thence South West to the South End of y« long swamp marking trees. 
Thence to the East side of Round pond, and by said Pond to the North 
West side of it. Thence Norwest acrost the Hills to a brook running 
into the east end of the Long Pond marking Trees from thence a di- 
rect course over the brook to a Hemlock tree standing on Titicus River 
by the Sand Bank near a brook running into Titicus on the West side 
of said Tree which tree is thus marked B and thence as the river runs 
to said Tackore^ Old House to a white Oak Tree marked near a horse 



24 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

pound, thence crossing the River to a Tree marked just on the River 
Thence across y"" south end of Mopoos Ridge to a great White Oak 
tree standing at the northermost part of a swamp thence crossing the 
end of the swamp to another marked tree crossing the end of a plain 
Ridge of Land over Mopoos brook comeing from the north to a white 
Oak tree marked standing on y East side of a brook by the bank. 

" Thence easterly to the range of Asproom Mountain and southerly 
down under the mountain to the head of Mamanasco hill to a white 
Oak tree standing on the East side of the River near the Watering 
place. Thence under Asproom mountain at the foot thereof to Copps 
Mountain and down to the Old line and by said line Westerly to the 
Mill at the old boundary, and from thence to the first mentioned place 
in the boundaries in computing their former purchased called the New 
purchase. 

" To Have and To Hold said Granted and bargained premises with 
all the priviledges and appurtenances to the same belonging or in any 
wise appertaining I Norreneca say I have sold and fully made over y" 
same unto the said Thomas Hawley Richard Osborn Samuel Saint 
John &c with the above named proprietors and to their heirs and 
assigns for ever, who shall and may for ever hereafter by virtue here- 
of Enter upon possess and Enjoy y"' same Convey Convert alienate 
and improve the same according to their Several Interests in what way 
and manner, to what use and end soever, they the above named pro- 
prietors their heirs and assigns shall find convenient. Furthermore I 
the said Norreneca do hereby Covenant and Engage to Warrant and 
Defend y* same for ever to y" above said proprietors, their heirs and 
assigns from me my heirs Executors or Administrators or any Indian 
or Indians, whatsoever Laying any Lawfull Claim or Challenge there- 
unto. In Testimony Whereof I do hereunto Set my hand and Seal 
this 22'' day of November Anno Domini 1721. 

his 
"NORRENEKE x Indian, [seal.] 
mark. 
" Signed Sealed and Delivered 
in presence of us 

Benjamin Stebbins 

Timothy Cankield 

" On the 22'^ of November anno Domini 1721 Norreneca indian per- 
sonally appeared and acknowledged the above written Instrument to 
be his free act and deed before me. 

"RICHARD OSBORN yustice." 

" Received to Record November 22'"' 1721 and recorded pr me 

" Thomas Hawley Rc\'isU'r." 



FURTHER PURCHASES. 25 

On the 4th of July, 1727, a fourth purchase was 
made. The following is the deed: 

" Know all men by these presents That We Japorneck & Moses, 
Indians belonging to Wepack or long pond so Called & Richard and 
Samm Indians belonging to ammawogg do For and in Consideration 
of eighteen pounds in money or goods Equivalent, two guns. Eighteen 
Shillings in hand received, and Three bottles of Rhum, paid by y" pro- 
priet*' of Ridgefield, Whose Names hereafter Follow, Viz, Thomas 
Hauley, Richard Osburn, Sam' Saintjohn, Benjamin Benedict, Benja- 
min Burt, Benjamin Stebbins Ebenez"' Smith, Thomas Smith, Richard 
Olmsted Joshua Lobdell, Milf Sam' Smith, Nathan Saintjohn, Henry 
Whitne, Jonath" Rockwell, Benjamin Hayt, Jonathan Abbott Sen', 
Allexand'' Resseguie, Titus Wood, Joseph Benedick, James Benedict, 
James Northrup, Joseph Northrup Joseph Lee, Joseph Keeler, Benja- 
min Heacock Benjamin Wilson, Thomas Hyatt, John Sturdevants 
heirs, Joseph Piatt, Gideon Piatt, David Scott, James Scott, Dan' 
Sherwood, Norw Sam' Smith, Daniel Olmsted, Timothy Keeler, Jonah 
JiCeeler, Matthew Seamore, Joseph Hobart, Moses Northrup, Give, 
Grant bargain Sell, and by these presents do freely fully, and abso- 
lutely Sell Convey and Confirm unto y** said Proprieto** above named, 
according to their Sevor' interests in the Proprietyship of Ridgefield, a 
Certain tract, or parcell of land hereafter described, and mentioned, 
Namely, all y" lands included within y" lines hereafter mentioned, be- 
ginning at a large White Oak tree mark't. Standing about twenty miles 
three hundred and five rodds from Cortlands point the line agreed 
upon by the Commission and from thence a line Southerly parrallell 
to y" line Call'd twenty miles from Hudson River, till it meet y" former 
purchase made by Cottoona : and again from y" fore mentioned white 
Oak Tree a line Northerly parrallel also to said Twenty mile line till 
it meet y" purchase made of Tackore, Comprehending all y" land. 
Eastward of said lines, till it come to y* old purchase lines, to have and 
to hold y" said Granted and bargained premises with all y"^ privelidges 
and Commodities to the same belonging, or in any wise appertaining, 
We said Indians have sold and fully made over y*^ same unto y" above 
Named Proprietors and to their heirs and assigns forever, in such pro- 
portian as above, according to their sever' interests to them and theirs. 
Sole and proper use and benefitt, who shall and may forever hereafter 
by virtue hereof enter upon, posess and enjoy y'' same. Convey, 
Convert, alienate and improve it in what way and manner, to what 
•use and soever, they the above named proprietor their heirs and assigns 
Shall See Convenient. 



26 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

" Furthermore we the said Japorneck, Richard Moses and Samm, 
Indians, do for ourselves and heirs hereby Covenant and Engage to 
warrant and defend y same forever unto y" Proprietor of Ridgefield 
aforsaid and to their heirs and assigns forever, from us and our heirs 
or any persons what forever, whether English or Indians laying any 
lawfull claim Challenge or demand thereunto. 

" In Testimony whereof we do hereunto set our hands and Seals this 
4*'' day of July Anno Domini 1727. 

JAPORNECK, his x mark, [seal.] 
RICHARD, his x mark. [seal.] 
MOSES, ]iis X Jiiark. [seal.] 

SAM, his X mark. [seal.] 

WETT HAMS, his x mark, [seal.] 
AMMON, his x mark. [seal.] 

" Signed Sealed and delivered 
In presence of us 
John Bolt, his x mark. 
Peter Randall. 

" July 4"', 1727 then appeared y persons of Japorneck Moses, Rich- 
ard, Sam, Wett Hams, and Ammon Indians, and did acknowledge 
the above written Instrument to be their free act and deed. Before me 

" RICHARD OSBURN JtisV. 
" Received to record July 4"', 1727 and recorded pr me 

"THOMAS HAULEY Register." 

Two Other purchases were made in the year 1729, 
the first on the 7th of March, the second on the loth 
of April. Below are the deeds : 

" Know all men by these presents that we Japporneck, Ammon and 
Wett hams, Samm Moses, Pawguenongi and Crow all Indians belong- 
ing to long pond or Wepack for and in Consideration of a valuable 
reward paid or to be paid by y* Proprietors of Ridgefield Have Given, 
Granted, bargained Sold and by these presents do freely fully and ab- 
solutely Sell, Convey, and Confirm unto y" proprietors of Ridgefield 
their heirs and assigns forever, according unto their several interests 
or proprieties a Certain Tract or parcell of land Supposedly in y* Town- 
ship of Ridgefield Lying Situate and Butted and bounded as Followeth, 
Namely, Beginning West at an Oak Staddle standing on y" west side 
of y Outletl of long pond about six rods west of said Outlett, Near y'' 



FURl'HEK PURCHASES. 



27 



lower fishing place, from thence Southward along y'' line which Mr Lewis 
run, and down to y"' old purchase line ; and from said Staddle North- 
ward by said Line of Mr Lewis To Titicus river, and bounded East 
by y" former purchase made of Japporneck and by y'' purchase made 
of Tackora being in breadth, about three hundred and five rods. 

" To Have and To Hold said Granted and bargained premises with 
all y" liberties and privilidges to y same belonging or in any wise ap- 
portaining. 

" We say we have sold and fully made over y'' same unto y"-' said pro- 
prieto" of Ridgefield according to their proportionable interests and 
proprities as above, and to their heirs and assigns forever, who shall 
and may forever hereafter by virtue hereof, Enter upon posess and 
Enjoy y'^ same Convey Convert alienate and improve it, in what way 
and manner, to what use and end forever they the said proprietors 
their heirs, or assigns shall See Convenient. 

" Furthermore We the said Japporneck Ammon and Wett Hams, 
Moses, Samm Pawquenongi and Crow do for ourselves heirs, and 
assigns, hereby Covenant and Engage to warrent and defend y*" above 
Granted, and bargained premises unto y said proprietors, their heirs 
and assigns, from us Our heirs, Executors, administrators, or any 
manner of person or persons what forever, English or Indians laying 
any manner of Claim Challenge or demand thereunto from by, or un- 
der us, or Ours. In Testimony whereof we do hereunto set our hands 
and Seals this 7"' day of March Anno Domini 1729. 

JAPORNECK, his x mark. [seal.] 
MOSES, his X mark. [seal.] 

SAMM, his X mark. [seal.] 

AMMON, his x mark. [seal.] 

WETT HAMS, his x mark. [seal.] 
PAWQUENONGI, his x mark, [seal.] 
CROW, his X mark. [seal.] 

" Signed Sealed and Delivered 
In presence of us 
Josiah Gilbert, 
William Drinkwater. 

" March y" 7"' 1729 then appeared personally y Subscribers Namely 
Japporneck, Moses Samm Ammon, Wett Hams, Pawquenongi, Crow 
and did acknowledge y' above written Instrument to be their free act 
and deed. Before me 

" RICHARD OSBURN yuslice. 

" Received to record Marcli 7"' 1729 and recorded pr me 

"Tug" Hawikv A'.i^ist." 



28 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

" Knoiv all men by these presents, that we Ahtopeer Moheus 
Neshucawpo Tavvquantose Wawsachim all Indians belonging unto 
Hooppacks, and Jacob Turkey Indian belonging to Narrahawtong. For 
and in consideration of a valluable Sum or reward paid by the propri- 
etors of Ridgefield which is to our full satisfaction, have given Granted 
bargained Sold, and by these presents do freely fully and absolutely 
Sell Convey and confirm unto said proprietors their heirs and assigns 
forever according to their several interests the following Tract or par- 
cell of Land — viz Beginning at Danbury South West Corner Con- 
tinueing Our patten line till it meets y" 20 mile line between the Gov- 
erment, and then Southwardly by said 20 mile line, till it cross Titicus 
River and thence Eastwardly to Danbury South West Corner, Bounded 
all along Southerly by our former purchase. 

" To Have and To Hold said granted and bargained premises with all 
the priviliges and appurtenances to y'^ same belonging or in any wise 
appertaining we say we have sold, and fully made over the same unto 
y'^ said proprietors and to their heirs and assigns forever, in proportion 
to their several interests, who shall and may forever hereafter by virtue 
hereof enter upon possess and enjoy the same. Convey Convert 
alienate and improve it in what way and manner, to what use and end 
soever, they y" said proprietors their heirs and assigns shall see Con- 
venient. 

" Furthermore we the indians above named do for ourselves and 
heirs hereby Covenant and engage to Warrant and Defend the 
same forever unto the proprietors of Ridgfield as above from us Our 
heirs or successors or any manner of person whatever English or 
Indians lawing any lawfuU claim Challenge or Demand thereunto. 

" In Testimony whereof we the above named Indians do hereunto 
Set Our Hands and Seals this 10"' day of Aprill Anno Domini 1729. 

AH TOPPEER, his x mark. 
MOKENS, his X mark. 
JACOB TURKEY, his x mark. 
NESHUCAWPO, his x mark. 
TAUCUATOOSE, his x mark. 
WAWSACHIM, his x mark. 



T, . i WAW CALI, his x mark. 

Two boys -^^^p^ ^Kq6^, his X mark. 



SEAL. 
SEAL. 
SEAL. 
SEAL. 
SEAL. 
SEAL. 
SEAL. 
SEAL. 



Signed Sealed and delivered 

in presence of us 
Israel Mead 
Caleb Strong 
Moses Indian his x mark. 
Crow, his x mark. 



FURTHER PURCHASES. 



29 



Two other purchases were subsequently made of 
the Indians : one on the 28th of February, 1738. and 
the other on the 6th of December, 1734 ; but they were 
of lands lying within the limits of the State of New 
York, on the oblong ; and although the deeds are re- 
corded on our town records, they are not deemed of 
sufificient interest to be given a place here. 

The eighth and last purchase of lands by the pro- 
prietors of the Indians was made on the 19th of De- 
cember, 1739. The following is the deed then given : 

'^ Know all men by these prese)its that we Betty y* mother of Jacob 
Turkey, Capt Jacob Turkey Mokquaroose, for and in consideration of 
y'^ sum of six pounds five shillings money to us in hand paid, or 
secured to be paid by Lt Eben' Smith, Capt Daniel Olmsted, & Mat- 
thew Seamore of Ridgefield in y*^ County of Fairfield and Colony of 
Connecticut in New England and which is to our full Satisfaction, Do 
Give Grant Bargain Sell and by these presents Have Given Granted, 
Bargained Sold and fully confirm unto y" above S"* Let Eben"' Smith 
Capt Daniel Olmsted & Matthew Seamore and their associates, and to 
their heirs & assigns forever a certain parcell or tract of Lands Lying 
within y new Pattent Bounds Called in y'^ Township of Ridgefield, as 
it is Butted & Bounded on y" east by Danbury Township, north by 
New Fairfield, on y" west by y'^ Government Line Southerly by Our 
former Purchase made of Jacob Turkey. To Have, and to Hold said 
Granted & Bargained premises with all y" privilidges & appurtenances 
to y" Same belonging or in any wise appertaining. We y'" said Betty, 
Jacob Turkey, Mokquaroose, say we have sold and Fully made over y" 
same unto y" said Lt Eben'' Smith Capt Dan' Olmsted and Matthew 
Seamore, their Associates, and their heirs and assigns for Ever, who 
shall and may for Ever hereafter, by virtue hereof Enter upon Possess 
and Enjoy y"* Same Convey, Convert, Alionate, and improve y" Same 
according to their Severall interests, in what way, and manner to 
what use & end So Ever they y" above named Lt Eben'' Smith, Capt 
Daniel Olmsted, and Matthew Seamore, their Associates, or their heirs 
and assigns Shall See Convenient. 

Furthermore we y* said Betty, Jacob, Turkey, Mokquaroose, Defend 
y" same for ever to y"* abovesaid Lt Eben"^ Smith, Capt Dan' Olmsted, 
& Matthew Seamore their associates heirs and assigns from us, our 



30 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

heirs Execur" administrar% or any Indian or Indians Whatsoever, or 
any manner of persons, Laying any Lawfull Claim Challenge, or 
Demand thereunto. In Testimony whereof we do hereunto Set our 
hands & Seals this 19"' day of December a.d. 1739. 

" BETTY, her x mark. 

This deed was also signed by other Indians, whose 
names and marks are fully recorded on our town 
records. 



CHAPTER IV. 

COLONIAL HISTORY. 

As soon as the original twenty-nine families had 
actually located in the town, its permanency was 
effectually established. Other families began at once 
to come in and purchase lands, and erect dwellings, 
and shops, and stores. Indeed, it rapidly put on the 
appearance of a growing settlement. Roads were 
surveyed, and other sections of land. 

A place for religious meetings was fitted up, then a 
church built, and a town house erected. But still the 
town was poor. A constant outlay was made neces- 
sary, while every anticipated source of income was not 
as yet realized. The land was not in a condition to 
yield much, nor a convenient market found for what 
could be produced. The inhabitants were compelled 
to practice the strictest economy. They traded and 
bartered among themselves. Toll was taken for the 
grain that was ground, linen fabrics were produced 
and exchanged for cotton cloths, and their minister 
paid in wheat, rye, and Indian corn. 

The distaff and the spindle in-doors kept time with 
the axe and the hoe out of doors. 

King Solomon could have found here many a virtuous 
woman, even though her price is above rubies. His 
description of her, so graphically portrayed in the book 
of Proverbs, was answered to the very letter in many a 
housewife. It would almost seem as if he had looked 



32 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

with a prophetic eye to our growing viUage, three thou- 
sand years in the future, when he wrote : 

" She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh wilhngly 
with her hands. 

" She is like the merchants' ships ; she bringeth 
her food from afar. 

" She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth 
meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. 

" She considereth a field, and buyeth it : with the 
fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. 

" She girdeth her loins with strength, and strength- 
eneth her arms. 

" She perceiveth that her merchandise is good : her 
candle goeth not out by night. 

" She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands 
hold the distaff. 

" She stretcheth out her hand to the poor ; yea, she 
reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 

" She is not afraid of the snow for her household : for 
all her household are clothed with scarlet. 

" She maketh herself coverings of tapestry ; her 
clothing is silk and purple. 

Her husband is known in the gates, when he sit- 
teth among the elders of the land. 

" She maketh fine linen, and selleth it ; and deliver- 
eth girdles unto the merchant. 

" Strength and honor are her clothing ; and she shall 
rejoice in time to come. 

" She openeth her mouth with wisdom ; and in her 
tongue is the law of kindness. 

" She looketh well to the ways of her household, and 
eateth not the bread of idleness. 



COLONIAL HISTORY. 33 

"Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her 
husband also, and he praiseth her." 

The experience of these early settlers was that of 
all young colonists ; through a series of years they were 
placed in circumstances well calculated to develop 
every latent energy of mind and heart. 

Six days they labored and did all their work, and the 
seventh they gave to God. They were emphatically 
" Diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the 
Lord." 

And this is but as we should suppose it would have 
been, when we reflect that they were in part com- 
posed of the direct descendants of the Puritan fathers, 
and in part of the Huguenots. 

The love of religious liberty was still warm in their 
hearts, and the hopes which a new country enkindled 
made heavy burdens light and hard yokes easy. 

They went to their tasks as men who had had con- 
sciously laid upon them the possibility of a glorious 
destiny which they were bound to achieve. Toil and 
privation did not intimidate them, nor their slow head- 
way against existing difficulties discourage them. The 
rugged soil, which at first had greeted them with 
" stony" indifference, was at length tickled into good- 
humor, and made to smile upon their efforts. 

The deep tangled forest gradually gave way to grain 
fields and orchards ; the plough followed close upon 
the axe, and the sickle kept close to the plough. 

There was a sweetness and richness about the corn 
which the sweat of their brovv's had given it, and a flavor 
to their fruit which only they can detect who have 
planted the seed, and carefully watched and nursed it 
through every stage of its development. 



34 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Among the early settlers, there were no Rothschilds 
nor Astors, nor any retired merchants living upon 
their wealth. 

They were all men of moderate means. They were 
rich in enterprise and energy and patience and phy- 
sical and moral strength, but poor in the currency of 
the country. 

Therefore, when the following act was passed by the 
General Assembly, in May, 1725, we arc not at all sur- 
prised to find them petitioning that they be exempted 
from taxation: 

" The towns of Ashford, Hebron, Ridgefield, New Town, and New 
Milford shall proceed to take and make a list of all the polls and 
ratable estate by their listers, this present year, as other towns in this 
colony do. And if either of the said towns are destitute of listers as 
the law directs, to do the work, that then in such case, such town so 
destitute, shall sometime in the month of June next meet together and 
choose a suitable number of their inhabitants — to be listers, who shall 
be sworn to that office accordingly : who shall take the said list and 
transmit the same to this Assembly to be holden at New Haven in 
October next." 

The reason for this action on the part of the town 
was not owing to any unwillingness on their part to 
pay their allotted taxes, but an inability to do so. 

The lack was not in the will, but in the pocket. 

Besides, they were just about to undertake to build 
a church, in which to worship, and to do so was to 
place upon their shoulders a burden under which they 
almost staggered. 

That their petition was deemed reasonable and 
readily granted is proven by the following act of Gen- 
eral Assembly : 

" Upon consideration of the petition of the inhabitants of the town 
of Ridgefield : 



COLONIAL HISTORY. 



35 



" This Assembly grants them an exemption for two years from pub- 
lick taxes : provided they draw no money out of the treasury for the 
schools, nor send any representatives to attend this Assembly during 
such exemption." 

At the expiration of the two years, they find it nec- 
essary to ask for a repetition of the same clemency on 
the part of General Assembly. This was also granted, 
as the following will show : 

" Upon the memorial of the town of Ridgefield, Resolved by this 
Assembly, that the said town shall be exempted, and the same is 
hereby exempted from paying publick taxes for the term of two years 
next to come." 

After the expiration of the time above named, the 
town seems to have appointed listers and paid their 
allotted taxes, but we find in 1740 that, either owing 
to delinquency in such payment or actual neglect, 
this town with Litchfield is censured and fined by 
General Assembly. There is, however, a single re- 
deeming feature in the case, viz., the very respectable 
company in which the town is found. 

This act of General Assembly, May 8th, 1740, reads 
as follows : 

" Forasmuch as by one law of this colony entitled, An Act directing 
listers in their duty and office, it is provided that, if the listers in the 
respective towns in this Colony, shall not annually send the sum total 
of the list of the polls, and ratable estates of the inhabitants of such 
towns, to this Assembly, at their sessions in October, such town shall 
be doomed by this Assembly ; And whereas the listers of the towns of 
Ridgefield and Litchfield, respectively, have not sent the sum total of 
such list of the polls and ratable estate in their respective towns to the 
sessions of this Assembly in October last, according as it is in said act 
provided. This Assembly do sentence and doom the inhabitants of the 
town of Ridgefield to pay into the publick treasury of this Colony the 
sum of twenty-nine pounds, fifteen shillings, and the inhabitants of 
the town of Litchfield the sum of twenty-seven pounds, six shillings, 
and four pence : and the Treasurer is ordered and directed to send 



36 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

forth his warrant to the constables of the said towns, respectively, to 
levy and collect the said sums of the inhabitants of the towns to which 
they belong, and to pay in the same to the publick treasury ; and the 
said constables are hereby impowered, respectively, to levy the said 
sums of the inhabitants, and required to pay in the same to the publick 
treasury, as is by law required in cases where the lists are orderly re- 
turned to this Assembly." 

Going back to the year 1727, we find the inhabitants 
of the town considerably exercised over the proposed 
change in the western boundary line of the State, be- 
tween it and New York. It was proposed to give the 
State of New York sixty-two thousand acres of land 
along its north and south boundaries in exchange for 
Greenwich, and a part of Stamford on the Sound. 

They desired a more extended shore line, and for 
this were willing to make the above appropriation. 
But by so doing, Ridgefield would lose so much terri- 
tory as to materially weaken the township. Therefore 
its proprietors began at once to cast about to know 
what they should be able to do, provided the pro- 
posed change should be actually made. 

Above them, lying between the northern limits of 
the town and Danbury, was a gusset or wedge of land 
not as yet appropriated, and for this they at once pe- 
titioned General Assembly. 

The first petition was presented in 1727, while yet 
the loss was in prospect only. 

" At a General Assembly Holden At Hartford in His Majesties 
Colony of Connecticott in New England on the ii"* Day of May, in the 
jjth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George of Great Britain 
&c King Annoque Dom 1727. 

" Upon the memorial of the proprietors, inhabitants of the town of 
Ridgefield, shewing to this Assembly, that they are likely to suffer 
great loss, and damage, by reason of part of their townships being cut 
off by the dividing line between New York, and Connecticutt gov- 



COLONIAL HISTORY. T^y 

ernments, and praying that a small tract or gusset of country land 
lying northward of said Ridgefield, westward of Danbury, and east- 
ward of the said line where it shall be when run, may be granted to 
them as an equivalent for the loss and damage abovesaid : 

" This Assembly do defer giving any answer thereto, till the said 
dividing line shall be ascertained, and in the mean while, do prohibit 
the taking any part of those lands, on the account of any grants made 
by this Court to any persons, whatsoever, without the special order of 
this Assembly : Whereupon, this Assembly do hereby strictly prohibit 
and forbid all surveyours, or other officers, whatsoever, from surveying 
and laying out any grant, or grants on any part of the said lands, 
without the special order of this Assembly, until the said line be ascer- 
tained as aforesaid." 

The terms of exchange were finally agreed upon by 
the two Colonies, and the second petition from the town 
submitted to General Assembly, with satisfactory re- 
sults, as the following will show : 

" At a General Assembly Holden at Hartford on Thursday 13"' day 
of May 1731 

" Upon the memorial of Joseph Keeler, Ebenezer Smith, Daniel 
Olmstead, and the rest of the proprietors of the common and undivided 
lands in the town of Ridgefield, setting forth to this Assembly, the 
great loss and damage they have sustained by reason of the dividend 
line, between the Province of New York, and the Colony of Connec- 
ticutt coming so much further eastward, than was expected, and thereby 
cutting off a considerable quantity of the land belonging to said town, 
thereupon petition this Assembly, that they would, in consideration of 
the loss, which they have sustained as aforesaid, grant unto them, a 
certain quantity of land, bounded South by Ridgefield, east by Dan- 
bury, north with New Fairfield, west by the Colony line : Upon 
which, this Assembly grants unto the said Joseph Keeler, Ebenezer 
Smith, Daniel Olmstead, and the rest of the proprietors of the common 
and undivided land in said Ridgefield, and do hereby grant and con- 
firm unto them said quantity of land, in that proportion, according to 
their present interest in the common and undivided lands in said town, 
excepting all those grants that have been taken up within the limits 
aforesaid ; and likewise grant that they take out a patent for the same, 
signed by the Governour and Secretary." 

3 



38 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

The patent which was given in the same year reads 
as follows : 

"Know all Men by these presents that We y^ Governor and Com- 
pany of His Majesties English Colony of Connecticut in New England. 
In General Court assembled In pursuance and by Virtue of the Power 
granted unto us, by our late Soveraign Lord King Charles y'° Second of 
Blessed memory in and by His Majesties Letters Patent under the 
Great Seal of England, Bearing date the 23"' day of April in the 14 
Year of his Reign, Have Given, Granted, and by these presents for 
us and our Successors, do give, grant, ratify and confirm unto Joseph 
Keeler, Ebenezer Smith, Daniel Olmsted and the rest of the Propri- 
etors of the common and undivided land in the Town of Ridgfield, in 
that proportion, according to their present Interest in said common 
and undivided land in y" Town aforesaid to them, and each of them, 
their heirs and assigns forever, and in particular all One Tract-peice 
or Parcel of Land, Butted and Bounded as Followeth — That is to say. 
On the South, by Ridgfield Township, On the East by Danbury, On 
the North by New-Fairfield, On the West by the Colony Line, 
togather with all woods. Timber underwood, uplands, arable Lands, 
Meadows pastures, ponds, Waters, Rivers, Brooks, Islands Fishings, 
Fowlings, Huntings, Mines, Minerals, Quarries, and precious Stones 
upon or within y" said Tract of Land so Butted and Bounded as is 
herein before exprest or Mentioned, Excepting all those Grants that 
have been Made and taken up within the said Tract of Land and with 
the Rights, Members, Hereditaments, and appurtenances, and y" re- 
vission and revissions, remainder and remainders, rights Royalties and 
priviledges Whatsoever of, into, with in, or out of y premises and 
every part and parcel thereof, Excepting as above Excepted ; and the 
said Tract of Land above mentioned, with all the appurtenances, priv- 
iledges, immunities, and Franchises there unto belonging, shall forever 
hereafter be deemed, reputed, and accounted, a good, pure, absolute 
and indefeasible Estate of inheritances in F"ee Simple, of, and unto the 
said Joseph Keeler Ebenezer Smith Daniel Olmstead and the rest of 
the Proprietors of the Common and undivided Land in said Town of 
Ridgfield, in such proportion, according to their present interest in 
said Common and undivided land to them, their heirs, and assigns 
for ever. To have and to Hold, inherit and enjoy y" said land and 
premises, Hereditaments, and appurtenances with the priviledges, 
immunities, and Franchise, herein mentioned as their interest and 
property for ever, and to be to y" only use, Benefitt, and Behoof of the 



COLONIAL LLL STORY. 39 

said Joseph Keeler Ebenezer Smith Daniel Olmsted and the rest of the 
Proprietors of the common and undivided Land in the Town of Ridge- 
field aforesaid, to them their heirs and assigns forever — To hold of 
His Majesty, His heirs and successors according to the Tenour of his 
Majestie's Manor of East Greenwich, in the County of Kent, in the 
Kingdom of England, in free and common Soccage, and not in Capitee 
or Knight Service, Yealding and paying therefor, unto our Lord & 
King, his Heirs and Successors forever. Only the fifth part of all the 
Gold or Silver which from time to time, and at all times hereafter, 
shall be there gotten, Or obtained in Lieu of all service. Duties and 
demands Whatsoever according to Charter. In Witness Whereof, we 
have caused the Seal of the said Colony to be hereunto affixed this first 
day of June ad 1731, and in the fourth Year of y*' Reign of our Sov- 
ereign Lord George the Second King &c. 

" By Order of the Governor and Company of his Majesties English 
Colony of Connecticut in New England, in America. 

" Hez: Wyllys Sccratarv. 

"J. TALCOTT Governorr 

" June I'* 1 73 1, Received and Entered upon the Records of the Col- 
ony of Connecticut, Lib 5 fol 248-9. 

" Per Hez: Wyllys SccrataryJ" 

" Received to Record and Recorded this 8"' day of June ad 1731. 
" Per Me, Thomas Hauley Register.'" 

" At a General Assembly Holden At Hartford in His Majesties Eng- 
lish Colony of Connecticutt in New England in America, on Thursday 
the 11"' Day of May, Anno Regni Regis Georgii 2'', Magn?e Britannioe 
&c., 5*" Annoque Dom 1732. 

" Whereas this Assembly in May last, granted unto Joseph Keeler, 
Ebenezer Smith, Daniel Olmstead, and the rest of the proprietors of 
Ridgefield in the county of Fairfield, a certain tract of land bounded 
south by said Ridgefield, East by Danbury, north by New Fairfield, 
west by the Colony line, which tract of land this Assembly do now 
annex to the town of Ridgefield, and to be taken and accounted a part 
thereof." 

In the year 1728 the town of Ridgefield was in- 
cluded in the Probate district of Stamford. 

In 1746 it was transferred from Stamford to the 
Probate district of Danbury. 



40 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

It was not until 1841 that Ridgcfield became a dis- 
tinct Probate district. 

The following minutes from the records show that 
at an early day the town was interested in establishing 
a military company, and applied to General Assembly 
to have its nominations approved : 

" The General Assembly in session at Haytforel, A.D. iTi"]. 

" This Assembly do establish and confirm Mr. Samuel St John of 
Ridgefield to (be) Captain of the company of trainband in the town of 
Ridgefield aforseaid, and order that he be commissioned accordingly." 

" This Assembly do establish and confirm Mr. Benjamin Benedict 
of Ridgefield to (be) Lieutenant of the company or trainband in the 
town of Ridgefield aforesaid, and order that he be commissioned 
accordingly." 

" In 1732 General Assembly, then in session at New Haven did 
establish and confirm Mr. Benjamin Benedict to be captain of the 
company or trainband in the town of Ridgefield, and Mr. James Ben- 
edict, Lieutenant and Mr. Daniel Olmstead, Ensign. 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield March 14"' 1735, Whereas 
by a Special Warrent from Maj'r Burr y" Townsmen are directed 
Forthwith to procure y'' Town stock of powder, BuUetts, and Flints, 
according to law. We do therefore desire y*' Townmen Speedily to 
procure y** same and do hereby oblige ourselves to Fulfill and answer 
such obligations, and pay such Debts as they Shall make in order 
thereto. 

" Test Thos. Hawlf.Y Jxegist'r." 

As early as the year 1748 the Colonies were dis- 
turbed by the contentions between Great Britain and 
France, with reference to the actual boundaries of 
their respective possessions in America. It was the 
low, muttering thunder of the approaching storm, 
which burst in its fury upon the Colonies in 1754, and 
which is known in history as the French and Indian 
war. 

We find this town participating in the struggle, with 



COLONIAL LIL STORY. 4 1 

the bravery and the Hberahty which have ever charac- 
terized it, contributing its full share, both of money 
and men. 

At a general town meeting held on September 20th, 
1748, 

" It was voted by a major vote that the powder and lead that was 
taken up by the Soldiers, that went for us, to guard the upper towns, 
the present year, should be paid in a town way, amounting to the sum 
of ;^6. old tenure." 

James Resseguie and Vivus Dauchy died in this war. 
The burial-places of the town were selected and ap- 
propriated at an early day. 

" At a Proprietors Meeting held in Ridgefield, Jan. y'' 27"' 1735/6. 
By their major vote, Timothy Keeler was chosen Proprietor's Clerk, 
or Register for y" year ensuing, and sworn according to Law before 
James Benedict, Justice of y' peace" Jan. y" 27*^'' 1735/6. 

" Att y* Meeting above s'"* the Proprietors by their Major Vote do 
grant, and by their order do appoint for y" town's use a certain Spot 
or piece of land for their burying place or yard ; s''' spot or parcell of 
Land Lying a little Southward of that lott or homestead that Milford 
Sam'l Smith bought of Drinkwaters, and Northward of y" Cart-path 
or Rhode that comes over Titticus river." 

This is the old part of the present cemetery. Pre- 
vious to this, the burying-ground used was situated 
immediately west of where Mr. William Edward Bene- 
dict now resides. Two stones are still to be seen : 
one a freestone, the other a common granite ; one 
marks the grave of Sarah, wife of Richard Osborn, 
Esq., and the other of Captain Matthew Benedict. 
Mrs. Osborn's is the oldest stone now standing in 
town. 

The cemetery at Ridgebury was first appropriated for 
that purpose, December 17th, 1743, as the following 
action of the town will show : 



42 HISTORY OF RJDGEFIELD. 

" The town by tlieir major vote, do allow and order y'' spot of land 
lying at y*' North-east corner of Joseph Northrops home lot, in y" New 
Patent, shall be a burying place for y" people of y'' New Patent to 
bury their dead therein." 

The reason for the meagrcness of the Hbrary, now 
owned by the town, is found in the following vote 
passed at a town meeting April loth, 1786 : 

" Voted, that the State Law-books belonging at present to this 
Town, shall be sold at public Vendue." 

It is much to be regretted that such action should 
ever have been taken by the town. 

Had these books been allowed to remain and been 
carefully preserved, we should have had (together 
with later contributions) a very respectable town li- 
brary, instead of the few books we now possess. 

The first town-house was built in 1743, and stood in 
the south-west corner of Mrs. Irad Hawley's yard, im- 
mediately in front of the present Congregational Lec- 
ture-room. It was in the following year removed to 
a point "south of the Pound," which was probably 
south of Mrs. Nathan Smith's present residence. 

This continued to be used both as a school-house 
and a town-house until 1776, when the old house was 
given to the proprietors of the Independent School- 
house, to be used in finishing that house, " provided 
that the said Independent School-house shall be used 
for town and society meetings." 

After the Independent School-house had been re- 
moved, the town had no regular place for its meet- 
ings, but made use of the churches. 

It may be proper to state in this connection, al- 
though not properly a matter of colonial history, that 
in 1830 the town purchased the under part of the 




.>^fvTt J c .ys i* ■'i 



TOWN HOUSE, ERECTED 1876. 



COLONIAL HISTORY. 43 

Masonic Hall, which had previously been used for a 
store, and fitted it up for town meetings. This con- 
tinued to be used until the erection of the present 
town-house, which was in 1876. 

There is a striking contrast between the first and the 
last town-houses, as will be seen by reference to the fol- 
lowing vote of the town passed December, 1743 — the 
first cost ;i^79 17s., the last about $6000 : 

" The House, voted to be built for y" use of. y*-' Town, is to be con- 
structed in the manner following — viz — to be one Story high, 26 feet 
long, 18 feet wide, and a chimney at one end, quite across y" house — 
to be covered with good cedar shingles — 3 feet long, if laid upon sawed 
lath — and if y" shingles be 18 inches or 2 feet — if laid on sawed boards 
— to be well closed with clapboards and door — two good floors, — to be 
well ceield with white wood boards — with three Windows — one of the 
said windows to be on y" back side of y" house — 20 in wide, and two 
feet long, — y" other two windows, each to have 3 feet and one half of 
glass, — and the casement to run into y" wall, — a good hearth — a well 
fastened bench raised within side of y'' house — a good lock and key to 
y«door, — to be well underpined — y'' jambs and y''top of y* chimney to 
be well painted — 

"The above said house, Gamaliel Northrop hath made an offer to 
build y" same, according to y" description above mentioned — for 79;^ 
17s old tenure, and to be finished by y" first day of December next — 
To being paid 50;^ by y" first of April next, and y" said Gamaliel 
Northrop do promise. — In witness my hand, this 29 day of December 

GAMALIEL NORTHROP. 
" In presence of 
Timothy Keeler 
Joseph Folliot." 

The first Pound in the village street was probably built 
on the church green, a little north of the first town- 
house. This Pound was in existence as early as 1727, 
when Joseph Lee was appointed key-keeper. 

" Dec. 24"', 1753 — at a Town Meeting, It was voted ' that there 
shall be a New Pound built in y'' lane Northward of where David 



44 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Scott lives — and to be 30 ft. in length, and 25 feet in Breadth, — and to 
Consist or be built with 4 Sills, 4 Plates, and four new Posts, and 
Eight Braces — all of good Sound White oak timber, hewn Square and 
well framed together and to be 5 feet between y sills and plates . " 

This Pound was located neai" the present blacksmith- 
shop of Mr. James Walsh. 

" Annual Town Meeting legally Warned and holden in Ridgefield 
on y" 14"' day of December A.D. 1795. • Voted, that a Pound be built 
y" South side the Rocks, in the Street, on y" west side the Path near 
Samuel Stebbins Dwelling House not to contain more ground in it, 
than is equal to Forty feet Square." 

This, the third Pound, was located in front, and a 
little to the south of Mr. William Lee's house ; it 
occupied the exact ground on which General Arnold's 
horse was shot from under him. 

The fourth Pound is the present one north of Mr. 
William Lee's house. 



CHAPTER V. 

KEVULUTIONARV HISTORY— TKYON'S INVASION. 

The coming on of the Revolutionary struggle was 
like the approach of every great crisis in the history of 
a nation. Men did not, at first, take in the grand pro- 
portions which it ultimately assumed. They did not 
discover in the growing dislike of taxation without 
representation the foundation of what would inevita- 
bly prove a partition wall between two distinct nations. 
Therefore, they were not prepared, at once, to occupy 
the independent position which they were finally forced 
to take. 

We are consequently not disappointed to find that 
this town, with others, was slow to take the one step 
which should decide its future destiny ; nor are we 
surprised that, having once reached this decision, it 
stood firm and unyielding through all the days of dark- 
ness which preceded the birth of constitutional liber- 
ty in America. 

The following extracts from our town records are in- 
teresting as indicating these progressive steps : 

" First. Whereas application hath been made to the Select Men of 
the Town of Ridgefield in Connecticut Colony by several of the inhabi- 
tants of s'' Town, to call a Special Town Meeting in order to take into 
consideration the Resolution Entered into by the Late Continental 
Congress ; and the Inhabitants being accordingly met the 30"' day of 
January AD 1775 Mr. Nathan Olmstead was chosen Moderator. The 
Meeting then proceeded to take into Consideration the said Resolu- 
tions, and after mature Deliberation in said meeting the question was 



46 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

put, Whether this Town will adopt and Conform to the Resolves con- 
tained in y'' association of the Continental Congress or not. Resolved 
in the Negative 9 Desent. 

" Second. Resolved N C D That we do acknowledge his Most Sacred 
Majesty King George the s* to be our rightfull Sovereign and do 
hereby publickly avow our allegiance to him & his Lawfull successors 
— And that we will to the utmost of our power, Support his throne & 
Dignity against Evry Combination in the Universe. 

Third. Resolved N C D, That we do acknowledge that the three 
branches oiy" Legislation (to wit) the King, the House of Lords and 
the House of Commons Convening and acting togather have a consti- 
tutional Right of Goverment over the whole and Every part of the 
British Empire. 

''Fourth. Resolved N C D that the Governour Council and Repre- 
sentatives of this Colony being Indulged with and having an Estab- 
lished Right of Legislation (tho' restricted) in and over this Colony, 
We do hereby acknowledge & avow their Right of Goverment and 
.Legislation in and over this Colony And are confident that they are the 
Rightfull & Constitutional Rulers, Directors and Guardians of our 
persons, properties Rights Liberties and privilidges, and We desire no 
other political Guides or Guardians than Said Assembly and the 
Officers Constitutionally appointed by them, to keep the peace Si. Order 
of y^' Colony and to Superintend the Execution of the Colony Laws. 

" Fifth. Resolved N C D That it would be dangerous and hurtfull to 
the Inhabitants of this Town to adopt the said Congress measures ; 
and we do hereby publickly disapprove of and protest against said 
Congress and the measures by them directed to as unconstitutional — 
as subversive of our real Liberties — and as countenancing Licencious- 
ness Resolved N C D That the Town Clerk be directed to make out a 
true copy of y" above s'** votes & transmit them to one or more of the 
printers in New York, that they may be published to the world. 

" Test STEPHEN SMITH Register." 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield by adjournment April lo"" 
1775 from March 7 1775. 

"The Question was put Wheither y Town will Explain their re- 
solves of the 30"' of January Lasts, Resolved in the Negative, The 
above Meeting is dismissed. 

" Test STEPHEN SMITH Register.'' 

" Town Meeting Dec 17 1775. 

"On Motion Made Wheither Said Meeting, upon Reconsideration 
do disannul the resolves April 10"' entered into and passed on the 30"' 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 47 

Jany 1775, And adopt and approve of the Continental Congress and 
the measures Directed to in their association, for securing and De- 
fending the Rights and Liberties of y^ United American Colonies. 

" Resolved in the Affirmative Nem Con. 

" Said Meeting voted that the Town Clerk make out a Copy of the 
above, Resolve and transmit the same to one of the printers in New 
York, in Order that the same may be made public in the News Papers. 

" Question put Wheither s'' Meeting will choose of a Committee of 
Inspections agreeably to the 11"' article of y" association of the Con- 
tinental Congress. 

" Resolved in the Affirmative. 

"And Samuel Olmsted Esq' Co' Philip Burr Bradley Daniel Coley 
Esq"" Jacob Jones Stephen Smith Timothy Keeler, Capt Jonah Foster 
Nathan Olmsted William Forester John Benedict James Scott, Ebenezer 
Jones Abraham Betts Matthew Keeler, Timothy Benedict Nathan 
Stevens Samuel Gates David Piatt Bartholomew Weed John Jones 
Daniel Smith, Ichabod Doolittle Abraham Gray Abraham Nash, Silas 
Hall and Azor Hurlbut were chosen Committee as abovesaid. 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield April 4"' 1777 Timothy Keeler 
was chosen Moderator of Said Meeting Said Meeting by a Major Vote 
is adjourned to the Meeting House. 

" Said Meeting Pursuant to a request and Resolve of the Governor 
and his Committee of Safety, Chose James Scott Matthew Keeler, Tim- 
othy Benedict & Samuel Gates, a Committee to provide for the families 
of such soldiers as shall enlist into the Continental Army with neces- 
saries at the prices stated by Law. 

" Voted also that this Town will Give to each man that shall Inlist as 
a Soldier into the Continental Service (for three years or during the 
war being an Inhabitant of this Town, till the Quota of the Town to fill 
the Continental Army be Compleated) Six pounds Lawfull money for 
every Year they are in said Service, to be paid as follows viz Six 
pounds at the time of their Inlistment. 

" The next Six pounds to be paid within the second year & so on 
Yearly During their Continuance in Service. , 

" And those that engage, that have families, if they die in Service by 
Sickness or y* Sword to be paid to their Widows or Children one year 
after their Death. 

" Also the Town by their Major Vote do agree to adhere to the Law 
of this State, Regulating the prices of the Necessaries of Life. 

" Voted that the Select Men procure Money in Loan or Otherwise, on 
the Town Credit''or in the Towns behalf for the purpose of Encourag- 



48 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIBILD. 



ing Soldiers to Enlist into the Continental army And when the sum 
necessary for that purpose is known, said Meeting vote, agree and 
grant a Tax on the polls & Rateable Estate of the Inhabitants of this 
Town, on the List of 1776, in order to repay the money that is or may 
be so procured and Laid Out and either of the Select Men for the time 
being, or any other person, that the Select Men shall nominate & De- 
pute, Shall be fully Authorized to collect the said tax &c and the same 
apply to the use aforesaid. 
" Said Meeting is Dismissed. 

" Test STEPHEN SMITH Kigistcrr 

The following is a copy of a muster-roll of Captain 
Gamaliel Northrop's Company, A.D. 1776 — in all proba- 
bility the first company formed in the town to take 
part in the war of the Revolution : 



Gamaliel Northrup Capt" 
James Belts i"' Lieut 
John St John 2'' Lieut 
Ebenezer Olmsted Ensign 
Thaddeus Keeler Serg' 
Aaron Comstock Serg' 
Gamaliel Osborn Serg' 
Salmon Hubbell Serg' 
Benajah Northrop Corp' 
Alvin Hyatt Corp' 
John Thomas Corp' 
William Lee Corp' 
John Joyce Drummer 
Samuel D" Forest Fifer 
Seth Baker 
John Bennett 
Abraham Belts 
Stephen Beers 
Dennis Collins 
Amnion Craw 
Arthur Forester 
Moses Gilbert 
Jared Hine 
David Hall 
Newton Hine 



Levi Keeler 
Uriah Keeler 
David Lavake 
Jeremiah Mead 
Matthew Mead 
Nathaniel Northrop 
James Nichols 
Enoch Olmsted 
Jeremiah Olmsted 
Isaac Olmsted 
Bartholomew Persoqs 
Stephen Remington 
Silas Rockwell 
Nathaniel Sterling 
Phineas Sherwood 
Albert Stuart 
Asa Scribner 
William Scott 
Joseph Trowbridge 
Peter Tuttie 
Hezekiah Whitlock 
Eleazer Waterous 
Thomas Woodbridge 
Israel White 
Jabez Keeler 




RESIDENCE OV DR. V. L. ADAMS.— LATE RESIDENCE OK COL. 
PHILIP B. BRADLEY. 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 49 

David Hoyt Trowbridge Bennett 

Joseph Jackson Josiah Taylor 

Thomas Jervis Gamaliel Benedict 

Reuben Jackson Barnabas Haglin 

Lockwood Keeler Ezekiel Whitney 

Elijah Kellogg Seth Hubbell 

Aaron Keeler Samuel Holmes — 64 

The following is a copy of the commission of Philip 
Burr Bradley, Esq., as Colonel of the Fifth Connecti- 
cut Regiment, in the regular army : 

"The United States ok America in Congress Assembled. 

"To Philip B. Bradley Esquire. Greeting. We, Reposing especial 
trust and confidence in your Patriotism, Valour, Conduct, and Fidelity 
DO by these presents constitute and appoint you to be ' Colonel ' of 
the fifth Connecticut Regiment in the Army of the United States, to 
take rank as such from the first day of January a.d. 1777 ; You are 
therefor carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of ' Colonel ' 
by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. 
And we do strictly charge and require all OflScers and Soldiers, under 
your command, to be obedient to your orders, as Colonel. And you 
are to observe and follow such orders and directions, from time to 
time, as you shall receive from this, or a future Congress of the United 
States, or Committee of Congress for that purpose appointed, a Com- 
mittee of the States, or Commander in Chief for the time being of the 
Army of the United States, or any other your Superior Officer, accord- 
ing to the rules and discipline of War, in pursuance of the trust re- 
posed in you. This Commission to continue in force until revoked by 
this, or a future Congress, the Committee of Congress before men- 
tioned, or a Committee of the States. 

Witness His Excellency John Jay Esquire Pres- 

,^^_^ ident of the Congress of the United States of 

S \ America at Philadelphia the sixteenth day of 

■{ SEAL 1- ' -^ 

( ) March 1779 and in the third year of our Independ- 

^"^ ence. JOHN JAY. 

" Entered in the War Oflfice and examined by the Board. 

"Attest E. Scull, Secretary of the Board of War.'' 

Colonel Bradley graduated at Yale College in A.D. 



50 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

1758. He was Justice of the Peace under George III. 
in 1770. He was also Marshal of the District of Con- 
necticut during the first terms of Washington as Presi- 
dent and also during the administration of John Adams. 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield Nov 17"' 1777 Capt Jonah 
Foster was chosen Moderator of s'** meeting. 

" Said Meeting by their Major Vote Chose David Olmstead, Samuel 
Olmsted 3"', Timothy Keeler 2'', Ebenezer Jones, John Waterous, Silas 
Hull, Ichabod Doolittle, Daniel Rockwell, Bartholomew Weed to be a 
Committee to procure Cloathing, for the Soldiers in the Continental 
Army (that the Assembly of this State, hath Required the Town to 
provide for). 

" Test STEPHEN SMITH Register." 

"At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield January S"* 1778, Lieut 
Nathan Olmsted was chosen Moderator of said Meeting. 

"The Question was put in said Meeting, Wheither the Articles of 
confederation and perpetual Union, Drawn up and published by the 
Honourable, Continental Congress be approved. Resolved in the 
Affirmative. 

" Test STEPHEN SMITH Register." 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield March 3'' 177S Samuel Olm- 
stead Esq' was chosen Moderator of said Meeting. 

" By a Major Vote said Meeting made choice of John Benedict Esq'' 
and Timothy Keeler 2^ to be a Committee to distribute the Salt, be- 
longing to this Town as follows viz One Quart thereof to each person 
of the several families of the men or that are Inhabitants of this town 
that have taken the Oath of fidelity to the State of Connecticut, and 
likewise to each person of the families of the Widows in this Town 
that are accounted friendly to the United States of America, and 
likewise to each person of the families of those men in this Town that 
are in the Continental Army ; and said Committee are to take 6d Law- 
full money per Quart for the same, of the persons they deliver the 
salt to ; and that said Committee attend upon y business of Delivering 
the salt, on the afternoon of each Thursday and Monday in this month 
till the whole be delivered out, and also Keep and Render true acounts 
of their doings in the premises to the Select Men by the first of April 
next. 

" Voted also that the Committee appointed to take care and provide 
for the families of the Men in the Continental Army, Receive or draw 



REVOLUTIONARY HI STORY. 5 I 

out of the town Treasury £b. o". c' agreeable to the Vote of the Town 
and lay the same out for the use and benefit of the Widow and family 
of Elisha Gilbert deceased. 

" Test STEPHEN SMITH Register:' 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield 9 Aug 1779 Samuel Olmsted 
Esq'' was chosen Moderator of said meeting. Said meeting was ad- 
journed from the Town House to the Meeting House. 

" Samuel Olmsted Esq'' and M"^ Robert Edmond were chosen Dele- 
gates for the Town in order to meet in County Convention at Redding 
on the 10"' Instant at the Dwelling House of Lieut Stephen Betts at 8 
O'clock in the morning in order to consult and adopt suitable measures 
to prevent the further Depreceiation of the paper Currency and Raise its 
value. 

" In said Meeting the Question was put Wheither any person that was 
an inhabitant in this Town, and hath Absconded and gone over to or 
joined the Enemy of the United States (and hath returned or shall re- 
turn unto the Town) be admitted to dwell in the Town, without the 
Liberty & approbation of the Town first had and obtained by such 
person or persons. Resolved in the negative. 

" Test STEPHEN SMITH Register:' 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgfield June 29 1780. 

" Daniel Coley Esqr was chosen Moderator of said meeting. 

" Said Meeting Granted a Tax of six pence LawfuU money on the 
pound on the Town List of 1779 to be collected by the first day of 
August next and put into the Town Treasury. 

" Said Meeting granted to each able bodied effective man that shall 
voluntarily, Inlist or hath lately been detach'd to fill up this Towns 
quota in the Continental Army thirty Shillings LawfuU money per 
month during the time they are in said service. Also to each Soldier 
that shall or hath lately been Detach'd for this state service (as a 
soldier) Thirty Shillings LawfuU money per month for all the time they 
shall be in said service over and above one month and the money to 
be drawn out of the Town Treasury and paid to them respectively. 
Daniel Coley Esq'" and David Scott was by'said meeting appointed a 
Committee for that purpose." 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield Aug 23'* 1780. 

" Timothy Keeler was chosen Moderator of said Meeting. 

" Said Meeting by their Major vote Revoked the vote of the Town 
whereby a tax was granted 'of six pence on the pound on the List of 
1779 in a Town__Meeting held June 29 1780. 



52 HISTORY OF NIDGE FIELD. 

" Said Meeting Voted that they would raise money by Tax on the 
List of 1779 ^""^ give to the Soldiers and non Commissioned officers 
that have been or shall be in the Service of the Continental and this 
State from the first of last March during this years campain. 

" Said Meeting made choise of Benjamin Smith, William Forester, 
Timothy Keeler Esq'' Stephen Smith and Stephen Norris a Committee 
to prepare a Memorial to be prefered to the General Assembly. Re- 
questing that for the future the method of Raising and procureing 
Soldiers for the Continental and State Service the present war, may be 
by classing men, viz all the men from sixteen and upward — and each 
class to procure a man for said service. 

" Test STEPHEN SMITH Register." 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield Nov. 20"', 17S0 Daniel 
Coley Esq was chosen Moderator of said Meeting. 

' ' Said Meeting Voted that a Committee should be chosen and as soon 
as may be to make Enquiery and Obtain the number of the Men that 
the Town is Deficient respecting their Quota of Soldiers in the Conti- 
nental Army And Thaddeys Rockwell and William Forrister were 
chosen for the purpose aforesaid. 

" Also said Meeting by their Major vote made Choice of Nathan 
Smith and William Forrister to receive the salt necessary for putting 
up the Provisions required of this Town to be provided for the Army 
and to perform every part respecting said Provisions agreeable to an 
Act of the General Assembly of this State in their last session." 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield Feby 8"* 1781 Capt Jonah 
Foster was Chosen Moderator of said Meeting. 

" Said Meeting Voted that the method for raising and procuring five 
Men for this State Service to serve as Soldiers in Col Bebees Regiment 
at Horseneck for the term of one year, be by classing the Inhabitants 
into five classes. 

" And that three of the classes divided out to procure Soldiers for 
filling up the Continental Army be formed into one class. And the 
three committee men living in the southern three classes that were 
appointed to class the Inhabitants as above expressed be a committee 
for the class in the southern part of the Town and so successively 
through the Town to the North end thereof. 

" And Samuel Olmsted Esq, Nathan Olmsted and Robert Edmond be 
a committee for the Southern class. And John Benedict Esq Benjamin 
Smith and John Jones a committee for y" second class. 

" And Col Bradley Stephen Smith and Silas Hull a committee for the 
third class. 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 53 

" And Daniel Smith, Matthew Northrop and Jonah Foster a com- 
mittee for y*" fourth class. 

" And Daniel Coley Esq, W"' Forrister and Capt Scars a committee 
for the fifth class. 

" Also said meeting Resolved that the Representatives of this town 
be and they are hereby Instructed to use their Influence in the Honor- 
able General Assembly in remonstrating to Congress against a late 
resolve of Congress respecting the setting of half pay on the super- 
numerary Officers lately belonging to the Continental Army." 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield March 23"' 1781. 

" Col Philip B Bradley was chosen Moderator of said meeting. 

" Said Meeting made choice of Capt David Olmsted, Col Bradley, 
Ebenezcr Olmsted William Forrister and Stephen Norris a committee 
to procure Soldiers to complete the Towns Quota for filling up the 
Continental Army and this States service. 

"Said Meeting Resolved and Ordered that the several classes that 
have procured Recruits for the Continental Army deliver their said Re- 
cruits to the Selectmen at the houses of Clements Smith and Daniel 
Coley Esq On Wednesday the 28"' of this Instant at ten oclock in the 
morning in order to be taken to Danbury to be Mustered and delivered 
to an Officer and forwarded to the Continental Army." 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield April 13"' 1781. 

" Capt Jonah Foster was chosen Moderator of said Meeting. 

" Said Meeting made choice of John Benedict Samuel Olmsted Esq, 
Col Bradley and William Forrister a committee (In Behalf of the Town) 
to make a settlement with the Men that were in service the last 
campaign either Continental or State that were Inhabitants of or 
counted for the Towns Quota ; Or with a committee by them appointed 
respecting two Grants they say was made them by y Town at their 
Town Meetings held in Ridgefield on y*^ 2g"' day of June 1780 and on 
y 23'''' of August 17S0 and make report to a future Town Meeting." 

The campaign of 1777 opened with the invasion of 
Connecticut by the British, for the first time during the 
war. 

The following account is taken from " Hollister's 
History of Connecticut," vol. 2, chap. 12 : 

" Sir William Howe had been informed that the 
Americans had large depositories of military stores in 
Danbury and its neighborhood. 



54 HISTORY OF KIDGEFIELD. 

" He determined to destroy them without delay, and 
in casting about him for a faithful operator, in this 
most invidious of all employments — who would be re- 
morseless in the use of the torch — he hit readily upon 
His Excellency Governor Tryon of New York. He 
could hardly have made a more admirable selection. 

Howe was a shrewd judge of character, and knew 
well that nothing so effectually calls out the latent ener- 
gies of a man of genius as a sudden appeal to old and 
cherished recollections. Now there was no part of 
the world that could awaken in the mind of William 
Tryon so many lively and searching associations as 
Connecticut. The name of the little republic made His 
Excellency's hair bristle with certain sensations that a 
soldier ought not to entertain. From the time when 
that irreverent company of Connecticut dragoons had 
scattered the type belonging to the administration 
organ through the streets of New York, and driven off 
his pet, Rivington, with hundreds of Tories — that were 
worthy of being elevated to the dignity of governor's 
horse-guards — he had felt the liveliest emotions at the 
very sound of the word Connecticut. In some way it 
was inseparably connected in his mind with that charm- 
ing society called the ' Sons of Liberty.' 

" General Howe showed his shrewdness not only in 
selecting his agent for this work, but also in sending 
along with him, to see that he did not lose himself in 
his explorations into a land that was so dear to him, 
those excellent advisers, General Agnew and Sir Wil- 
liam Erskine. Those gentlemen furnished intellectual 
resources for the major-general, and he added the 
warmth of his nature to give soul to the enterprise. 
Accordingly, a detachment of two thousand men were 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 55 

selected from the choice spirits of the British army, 
and nominally placed under Tryon's command. They 
embarked at New York, and, under the convoy of a fine 
naval armament of twenty-five vessels, passed over 
the waters of Long Island Sound, in such high spirits 
as the warmth of an April sun and the pleasing antici- 
pations of the business that was to employ them were 
calculated to inspire. They had chosen a time when 
Connecticut was almost entirely deserted by her male 
population, who had gone out to defend the soil of 
other "States, and stay up the trailing banner of the 
noble Washington. 

" They had left their homes to be guarded, with the 
exception of a few gallant troops, by the crutches of 
the grandfathers and the distaffs of the grandmothers 
who had two generations of descendants in the field, 
hundreds of miles away. On this account His Excel- 
lency, who was the very antipode of gunpowder Percy, 
had nothing to dampen his mood or cloud his brow. 
As the ships skimmed past the coast towns of western 
Connecticut, the people gazed at them with mingled 
curiosity and anxiety. Perhaps some of them called 
to mind the doings of Wallace, master of the Rose, at 
Stonington ; but no particular alarm appears to have 
been excited until the heads of the ships began to 
point toward the island that stands out from the Nor- 
walk shore. 

" At about four o'clock, they cast anchor in Sauga- 
tuck harbor, and, with such haste as is consistent with 
a picnic excursion into the country, two thousand 
men, consisting of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, went 
ashore in boats, and, under the superintendence of 
Tryon, with two Tory guides to show them the way, 



56 IllSrOKY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

moved forward toward Danbury. They marched 
about ei(^ht miles that nit^ht, and encamped in the 
township of Weston. 

" On the morning of the 26th, at a very seasonable 
hour, Tryon arrived at Reading Ridge, where was a 
small hamlet of peaceful inhabitants, almost every one 
of them patriots, and most of them farmers, who had 
crowned the high hill where they had chosen to build 
their Zion with a tall, gaunt church, which drew to its 
aisles, one day in seven, the people that dwelt upon the 
sides of the hills, and in the bosom of the valleys within 
the range of the summons that sounded from its belfry. 
By way of satisfying his hunger with a morning lunch, 
until he could provide a more substantial meal, he 
drew up his artillery in front of this weather-beaten 
edifice, that had before defied every thing save the 
grace of God and the supplications of his worshippers, 
and gave it a good round of canister and grape, that 
pierced its sides through and through, and shattered 
its small-paned windows into fragments. The only 
spectators to this heroic demonstration were a few 
women and little children, some of whom ran away at 
the sight of the red-coats, and others faced the invaders 
with a menacing stare. 

" The British commander now resumed his march for 
some distance without meeting with the least opposi- 
tion, until he began to ascend Hoyt's Hill, when the 
figure of a single mounted horseman appeared upon the 
summit of the eminence, with his face turned backward, 
and his gestures and whole action indicating that he was 
issuing orders to a large army that was climbing the 
side of the hill. ' Halt !' shouted the leader of the 
opposition in a voice of thunder, while he flourished his 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 57 

sword in the air, ' Halt ! the whole universe— wheel 
into kingdoms !' Now there was nothing that General 
Tryon had such a dread of as dying. He prudently 
commanded his men to halt, in imitation of the order 
given by the leader of the supposed army that was 
advancing, and sent out detachments on the right and 
left to reconnoitre, and got his two field pieces that 
were consecrated by the mutilation of the old church 
in readiness to give such feeble battle as he could to 
this more than Persian array. The reader can judge 
how much His Excellency was relieved when the 
vedettes returned and informed him that the wretch 
who had thus disturbed his valor was the only mortal 
in sight, and that no part of him was visible except 
his back as he rode toward Danbury with the speed 
of a shooting star. Little else occurred of an alarming 
character during the march. 

"They arrived in Danbury about two o'clock. There 
were a few Continental soldiers in the place, but they 
could not make a stand against this large invading 
party, and were obliged to withdraw. General Tryon 
selected the house of one Dibble, a faithful Tory, for 
his head-quarters, who lived at the south end of he 
main street, close by the spot where the military stores 
had been deposited. As Generals Erskine and Agnew 
were advancing under the protection of a corps of light 
infantr}% to take up their quarters at the other end of 
the same street, the party was fired upon by four 
youngmen from the house of Major Starr. This brave 
but rash act cost the young patriots their lives. They 
were instantly pursued and shot. A poor negro who 
was caught near them without weapons in his hands 



58 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

was also murdered, and the five bodies were thrown 
into the house, which was instantly set on fire. 

" A man named Hamilton had on deposit at a clo- 
thier's in the lower part of the village a piece of cloth, 
which he was determined at all hazards to rescue from 
sequestration. He accordingly rode to the shop, and 
having secured one end of the cloth to the pommel of 
his saddle, galloped rapidly away. He was seen by 
the enemy's light horsemen, who followed hard upon 
him, exclaiming, ' We'll have you, old daddy ; we'll 
have you.' ' Not yet,' said Hamilton, as he re- 
doubled his speed. The troops gain upon their intend- 
ed victim ; the nearest one raises his sabre to strike, 
when fortunately the cloth unrolls, and, fluttering like 
a streamer far behind, so frightens the pursuing horses 
that they cannot be brought within striking distance 
of the pursued. The chase continues through the 
whole extent of the village to the bridge, where finally 
the old gentleman and his cloth made good their 
escape. 

" A large quantity of the public stores had been de- 
posited in the Episcopal church, and the first work of 
the soldiers was to remove them into the street and 
burn them. Some of the provisions were also stored 
in a barn belonging to Dibble. This building was 
treated with the same respect, as its proprietor had the 
honor to entertain General Tryon as a guest. Another 
barn belonging to a friend of American liberty, which 
had been appropriated to the same use, was set on fire 
and consumed with its contents. In a few hours, eight- 
een hundred barrels of pork and beef, seven hundred 
barrels of flour, two thousand bushels of wheat, rye, 
oats, and Indian corn, clothing for a regiment of 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 59 

troops, and seventeen hundred and ninety tents, were 
burned. The smoke arising from the destruction of 
this property was strangulating and filled the whole 
air, while the streets ran with the melted pork and 
beef, 

" There was also a large quantity of liquors in some 
of the buildings. These the soldiers were most reluc- 
tant to destroy, and did not do so until after they had 
drank so freely of them that when the labors of the 
day were ended only a few hundred were fit for duty. 
While the imbruted soldiers piled the fuel around the 
flour and beef and stirred up the laggard flames to a 
fiercer glare, the women and little children could see 
by the fitful light the mark of the white cross that had 
been distinctly drawn upon the Tory dwellings, to sig- 
nify that the destroying angel about to go through 
the town would stay his hand at their door-posts, and 
pass them by unharmed. The same dingy light now 
disclosed a scene of loathsome drunkenness that sur- 
passes description. Hundreds lay scattered at random 
wherever the palsying demon had overtaken them — 
some in the streets, with their faces blackened with 
smoke and soiled with earth, others sprawling in the 
door-yards, and others still, wild with excitement, hold- 
ing themselves up by fences and trees or grasping fast 
hold of each other, called loudly with oaths and curses 
to be led against the rebels. 

" In this horrible condition the Revolutionary patriots 
of Danbury saw the shades of night gather around their 
dwellings, and in sleepless apprehension did they count 
the hours as they dragged slowly on. Nor did the 
brigand who led this band of incendiaries pass the 
night in sleep. The faithful few who had resisted the 



6o HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

temptations of the cup were on the alert, and brought 
him from time to time the unwelcome intelligence 
that groups of patriot farmers were fast dropping in 
from the neighboring villages and towns, and were 
beginning to form into organized companies. What 
if Wooster, or Parsons, or Huntington, or Arnold 
should prove to be at the head of them, and should 
steal upon him while his troops were in that defence- 
less condition ? The thought was horrible ! Thus 
heavily passed the watches of that gloomy Saturday 
night. At last the day began to approach, and reason, 
unsettled for a while in the dull brains of the British 
soldiers, returned to them again. The marks of the 
late dissipation still appeared in their swollen faces 
and bloodshot eyes ; but they were now able to stand 
upright, to grasp a musket, and defend themselves 
against the farmers who were gathering, ill-weaponed 
and undisciplined as they were, to oppose them. Then 
the British general began to breathe more easily, and to 
exhibit in a more striking manner the remarkable traits 
of his genius. He drew up his forces in order of de- 
fence ; he attended to all the arrangements, and pre- 
sided over every detail of the preparations that he was 
making to usher in, with ceremonies worthy of the 
occasion, another Sabbath-day. On a sudden, as if 
by the pulling of a wire upon the stage, the curtains 
of darkness were withdrawn from the village, and like 
a will-o'-the-wisp, and wandering zigzag from street to 
street, from house to house, passed the flaming torch 
of the incendiary. The Congregational meeting-house, 
the largest and most expensive building in the place, is 
soon discovered to be on fire, and, one after another, 
the dwellings, stores, and barns of that peaceful com- 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 6 I 

munity add their tributary lamps to that great centre 
beacon of the town, until every house, save those that 
have the mystic sign upon them, is in a broad blaze. 
Meanwhile, by the light of their own homes, mothers, 
screening their babies from the bleak air with the 
scanty clothing that they had snatched up in haste and 
denied to themselves, crippled old men and palsied 
women, and little boys and girls clinging to their feeble 
protectors, made such haste as they could to save their 
lives from the fire, taking care to avoid the jeers of 
their comfortable Tory neighbors, who looked out from 
the doors and windows where the white cross glared 
in mockery, alike of God and of humanity ; and to 
shun at the same time the unhallowed contact of the 
soldiers, they ran, crawled, or were carried upon their 
beds, into lonely lanes, damp pastures, and leafless 
woods. Having witnessed the destruction of the meet- 
ing -house, nineteen dwelling-houses, twenty-two stores 
and barns, and great quantities of hay and grain that 
belonged to the inhabitants of the place, and having 
feasted his eyes with the fear and anguish of the 
women against whom he waged this glorious war, Ma- 
jor-General Tryon, taking a last fond look of the 
scene of his exploits, and noting doubtless the artistic 
effect of the faint blue smoke-wreaths as they curled 
upward to stain the blushing forehead of the morning, 
withdrew his troops and resumed his march toward the 
sea-shore. 

" When the invader was fairly out of sight, the poor 
fugitives from their several hiding-places returned, and, 
cowering over the charred timbers of the homes that 
they had fled from, warmed their shivering frames and 
trembling hands over the ruins of Danbury. 
4 



62 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

" In the mean time the news of Tryon's arrival flew 
along the whole coast. Early on the morning of the 
26th, General Sillman with about five hundred militia, 
such as he had been able to gather upon a sudden call, 
pursued the enemy, and not long after the venerable 
Wooster, who had started off at a moment's warning to 
defend the soil of his native State from insult, joined 
him with Arnold and another handful of militia. A 
heavy rain retarded their movements so much that 
they did not reach Bethel till late at night. It was 
therefore decided to attack the enemy on their return. 

" On the morning of the 27th, the American troops 
were astir at a very early hour. General Wooster de- 
tached General Sillman and Arnold, with about five 
hundred men, to advance and intercept the enemy in 
front, while he undertook with the remainder, amount- 
ing only to two hundred half-armed militia, to attack 
them in the rear. About nine o'clock he overtook 
Tryon's army, some three miles above Ridgefield, on 
the Norwalk road, and, taking advantage of the uneven 
ground, fell upon a whole regiment with such impetu- 
osity as to throw them into confusion and break their 
ranks. Before they could be restored to order, he had 
succeeded in taking forty prisoners — a number equal to 
one fifth part of his whole force. He continued to 
hang upon their skirts and harass them for some time, 
waiting for another favorable opportunity to make an 
attack. A few miles from Ridgefield, where the hills 
appeared to offer a chance of breaking their ranks a 
second time, he again charged furiously upon them. 
The rear guard, chagrined at the result of the former 
encounter, now faced about and met him with a dis- 
charge of artillery and small arms. 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 63 

" His men returned their shot resolutely at first, but, 
as they were unused to battle, they soon began to fall 
back. Wooster, uniting all the fire of youth with the 
experience of an old soldier, who had seen hard service 
in more than one field, sought to inspire them with his 
own courage. Turning his horse's head and waving 
his sword, he called out to them in a brisk tone, 
' Come on, my boys ; never mind such random shots.' 
Before he had time to turn his face again toward the 
enemy, a musket-ball aimed by a Tory marksman 
penetrated his back, breaking the spinal column and 
lodging in the fleshy parts of his body. He instantly 
fell from his horse. His faithful friends stripped his 
sash from his person and bore him upon it from the 
field. 

" Arnold and Sillman made a forced march to Ridge- 
field, and arrived there about eleven o'clock. They 
threw up a temporary barricade across the road on the 
rising ground, and stationed their little party in such 
a manner as to cover their right flank by a house and 
barn, and their left by a ledge of rocks. Here they 
quietly awaited the enemy. As soon as Agnew and 
Erskine saw what position the Americans had taken, 
they advanced and received their fire, and, though 
they sustained considerable loss, they returned it with 
spirit. The action lasted about ten minutes, when the 
British gained the ledge of rocks, and the Americans 
were obliged to retreat. The American officers be- 
haved with great spirit. Arnold was shot at by a 
whole platoon of soldiers, standing not more than 
thirty yards from him. His horse was killed under him, 
but no other b'all took effect. Snatching his pistols, 
he shot dead a soldier who was making up to him to 



64 History of ridgefield. 

run him through with his bayonet, and thus made his 
escape. The Americans kept up a scattering fire till 
nearly night, when General Tryon encamped at Ridge- 
field. In the morning he set fire to the church, but he 
probably did not superintend this piece of work him- 
self, as it was so inartistically done that it proved to 
be a failure. 

" He was more fortunate with four dwelling-houses 
which he soon had the satisfaction to see wrapped 
in flames. He now resumed his march, but Arnold 
followed him up so closely that he soon crossed the 
Saugatuck Riv^er, and marched on the east side of 
it, while the Americans kept pace with him on the 
left. Thus they advanced, cannonading each other 
whenever they could find a convenient opportunity. 
About three o'clock in the afternoon the gallant 
Colonel Deming, with a little party of Continental 
troops, forded the river where it was about four feet 
deep, and. unperceived by the enemy, attacked them 
with desperate violence upon the rear and upon the left 
flank, pursuing them and keeping up a galling fire that 
did them very serious harm. Arnold pushed forward 
toward the mouth of the river, and, drawing his men up 
in good order upon a hill, opened a heavy fire upon the 
right flank of the enemy's rear. The Americans could 
follow them no further on account of the dangerous 
proximity of the ships. The British troops who were 
marching in the van immediately embarked, while the 
centre and rear formed on a hill. While Arnold was 
discharging his cannon at the boats, and while Deming 
was plying the Major-General in the rear. Colonel 
Lamb, who was from New York, and, of course, one 
of His Excellency's own subjects, crept with about 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 65 

two hundred men behind a stone wall, and gave him a 
parting salute at the distance of about one hundred 
yards. 

" Glad enough was Tryon to get aboard his good ship 
once more, and it is believed that he cherished to his 
dying day the recollection of his first visit to Connecti- 
cut." 

It would be a matter of interest to many to know 
just what kind of a report was made of this raid by 
General Tryon to his superior ofificers, and through 
them to the British Government. 

In the June number of the Gentlcvian s Magazine, 
printed in London in the year 1777, we have the fol- 
lowing statement : 

" General Howe has transmitted to Lord George Ger- 
maine the following particulars of a recent successful 
enterprise for the destruction of stores at the village of 
Danbury in Connecticut. 

" The troops landed without opposition in the after- 
noon of the 25th of April, about four miles to the east- 
ward of Norwalk, and twenty miles from Danbury. 

' ' In the afternoon of the 26th the detachment reached 
Danbury, meeting only small parties of the enemy on 
their march, but General Tryon having intelligence that 
the w^hole force of the country was collecting, to take 
every advantage of the strong ground he was to pass 
on his return to the shipping, and finding it impossible 
to procure carriages to bring off any part of the stores, 
they were effectually destroyed, in the execution of 
which the village was unavoidably burned. 

" On the 27th, in the morning, the troops quitted 
Danbury, and met with little opposition until they came 
near to Ridgefield, which was occupied by General Ar- 



66 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

nold, who had thrown up intrenchments to dispute the 
passage, while General Wooster hung upon the rear 
with a separate corps. The village was forced, and the 
enemy drove back on all sides. 

" General Tryon lay that night at Ridgefield, and re- 
newed his march on the morning of the 28th. 

" The enemy, having been reinforced with troops and 
cannon, disputed every advantageous situation, keep- 
ing at the same time smaller parties to harass the 
rear, until the General had formed his detachment 
upon a height within cannon-shot of the shipping, 
when the enemy advancing seemingly with an inten- 
tion to attack him, he ordered the troops to charge their 
bayonets, which was executed with such impetuosity 
that the rebels were totally put to flight, and the de- 
tachment embarked without further molestation. 

" Return of the forces, ordnance, provisions, etc., as 
nearly as could be ascertained, found at the rebels 
stores, and destroyed by the King's troops, at Dan- 
bury, etc., in Connecticut, April 27th, 1777. 

" A quantity of ordnance stores, with iron, etc., 4000 
barrels of beef and pork, looo barrels of flour, 100 large 
tierces of biscuit, 89 barrels of rice, 120 puncheons of 
rum. 

" Several large stores of wheat, oats, and Indian corn, 
in bulk the quantity thereof could not possibly be ascer- 
tained, 30 pipes of wine, 100 hogsheads of sugar, 50 hogs- 
heads of molasses, 20 casks of coffee, 1 5 large casks filled 
with medicine of all kinds, 10 barrels of saltpetre, 1020 
tents and marquees, a number of iron boilers, a large 
quantity of hospital bedding, etc.; engineers', pioneers', 
and carpenters' tools ; a printing-press complete ; tar, 
tallow, etc.; 5000 pairs of shoes and stockings. 



REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 6 J 

"At a mill (Smith's mill) between Ridgebury and 
Ridgefield, lOO barrels of flour and a quantity of Indian 
corn. 

" At the bridge at the west brace of Norwalk River, 
and in the woods contiguous : lOO hogsheads of rum ; 
several chests of arms ; paper cartridges ; field forges ; 
300 tents. 

" Return of the killed, wounded, and missing : 

" One drummer and fifer, 23 rank and file, killed ; 3 
field ofificers, 6 captains, 3 subalterns, 9 sergeants, 92 
rank and file, wounded ; one drummer and fifer, 27 rank 
and file missing. 

"(Signed.) W. HoWE, 

" The following is an additional list of the wounded : 

" Capt. Thorne, Capt. Durmas, Lieut. Hastings, 
Major Conran, Capt. Rutherford, Ensign Menichin, 
Second Lieut. Price, Volunteer Vale, Major Hope, Capt. 
Calder, Ensign Mercer, Prince of Wales, American vol- 
unteer. Col. Browne, Capt. Lyman, Capt. Secon, and 
Capt. Simon Frazer. 

" Return of the rebels killed : General Wooster, Gen. 
Gould, Col. Lamb, of the Artillery, Col. Herman, Dr. 
Atwater, a man of considerable influence, Capt. Cove, 
Lieut. Thompson, and 100 privates. 

" List of rebel wounded : Col. Whiting, Capt. Benja- 
min, Lieut. Cove, and 250 privates. 

" Taken prisoners, 50 privates, including several com- 
mittee men." 

J. Howard King, Esq., has in his possession the 
chair used by Major Andre, while a prisoner in the 
hands of his grandfather General Joshua King. 



CHAPTER VI. 

INCIDENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 

There is a prevailing impression among the in- 
habitants of the town that General Wooster's forces 
first attacked the rear of General Tryon's army, on 
the flat immediately north of Mr. Lewis C. Hunt's 
house. Facts will not justify this opinion. General 
Wooster made his first attack on the enemy after they 
had ascended the hill commonly known as Scott's 
Ridge, and probably while a part were still engaged 
at their morning meal, for it was at this point that 
Tryon's army breakfasted. 

The battle was fought immediately north of Mr. 
Samuel Scott's house, and in front of the school-house. 
It was here that General Wooster took forty prisoners, 
and it was doubtless here that the two Hessian soldiers 
were mortally wounded, who died on their way to the 
village, and were hastily buried in the sand-knoll north 
of Mr. Zalmon Main's. 

After securing and disposing of the prisoners taken, 
General Wooster again overtook the British on the flat 
north of Mr. Lewis C. Hunt's, and about two miles 
north of the village of Ridgefield. 

It was here that the gallant general was wounded, 
at the very beginning of the engagement. Indeed, tra- 
dition says that General Wooster was wounded by a 
Tory in ambush, and not by the enemy proper ; how- 
ever this^may be, it is certain that the attack had but 



INCIDENTS OF RE VOL UTIONAR Y HISTOR Y. 69 

just commenced. We are not able to learn that a single 
life was lost. 

About this time in the morning, General Arnold ar- 
rived at Ridgefield with five hundred men, and began 
at once to throw up a barricade across the road at the 
north end of the village, between the north-west corner 
of Miss Sarah Stebbins's door-yard and the ledge of 
rocks upon which the house of Mr. William Lee now 
stands. This was about eleven o'clock in the morn- 
ing. An hour later, or at twelve o'clock, General Try- 
on had reached the place, and a general engagement 
took place. 

An eye-witness says that sixteen British and eight 
Americans were killed in this engagement, and that 
they were buried in two graves, near the hickory tree 
which now stands just inside the fence, east of the road, 
in the open lot, between Miss Sarah Stebbins's and Mr. 
Abner Gilbert's. The point is easily found in the 
right-hand side of the picture, where the two children 
are seen standing. 

The sixteen British were buried in one grave and the 
eight Americans in another. 

The wounded were taken into the house now occu- 
pied by Miss Sarah Stebbins, and tenderly cared for. 
The blood-stains are said to be still seen on the oaken 
floors. The house itself is a standing monument to 
the battle. The path of one or more cannon-balls is 
plainly traced. 

The bravery of General Arnold in this engagement 
amounted almost to recklessness. After the enemy 
had broken through the temporary barricade, and all 
his own soldiers except Captain Bell had deserted him. 



70 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

he still stood his ground, receiving the undivided fire 
of a whole company of the enemy. 

His horse fell under him, pierced by nine bullets, 
and at the moment of its fall his foot became entangled 
in the stirrup. A soldier, taking advantage of this 
moment of the General's disability, rushed up to him, 
exclaiming, "You are my prisoner!" "Not yet," 
quickly replied General Arnold, and drawing a pistol 
from his holster shot him dead, then regaining his feet, 
he hastily retreated amid the repeated fire of the 
enemy. 

It is commonly reported that it was a Tory from 
Milford by the name of Coon who thus attempted to 
take General Arnold prisoner, as also that General Ar- 
nold said as the bullet sped on its fatal mission, " One 
live man is worth ten dead ones." 

Immediately after this action the British marched 
through the street, occasionally discharging their ar- 
tillery, a terror to all but a few Tories, who felt that the 
long-delayed moment of their exaltation had come. 

Halting a little below the village, they proceeded to 
encamp for the night on the grounds of Mr. Samuel 
Olmsted — now owned and occupied by Mr. Hiram 
Seymour, a descendant of the family. 

The selectmen of the town, in their petition to the 
General Assembly, dated May 26th, 1777, stated that 
the enemy, in passing through the town, burned the 
grist-mill and saw-mill of Isaac Keeler, six dwellings 
and two barns, and killed and carried off a number of 
horses, sheep, and cattle. 

During their stay they also plundered the inhabi- 
tants of nearly all their provisions and a large share of 
their clothing, by which many were reduced to pov- 



INCIDEN TS OF RE VOL U TIONA R V HIS TOR Y. 7 I 

erty. The town, unable to relieve all the sufferers, ap- 
plied to General Assembly for help. 

Nehcmiah Beardsley, Increase Mosely, and Lemuel 
Sanford were appointed a committee to estimate the 
respective losses of the inhabitants. After a close inves- 
tigation, the total amount was fixed at ^2625 is. 8d. 

On the exact spot where General Arnold's horse was 
shot from under him a tamarack tree now stands; it 
was placed there to commemorate the event. It is 
inside Mr. Lee's yard-fence, a little south-east of his 
house. 

On their way down the street the British soldiers 
planted a gun in front of the Episcopal church, and 
shot several balls into the house now owned and oc- 
cupied by Mr. Abijah Resseguie, one of which was 
lodged in a post on the north-east corner, and is still 
to be seen imbedded deeply in the solid wood. 

Another ball passed between the feet of a man who 
at the time was ascending the stairs. Frightened by 
the close proximity of the unwelcome messenger, he 
exclaimed, " I'm a dead man, I'm a dead man !" and 
tradition says that he actually rolled to the foot of 
the stairs. But upon examination it was found that 
he was not only not dead, but wholly unharmed. 

The reason for cannonading this particular house 
was to dislodge certain parties who were reported to 
be in the building, making cartridges. The house was 
occupied by Mr. Timothy Keeler, a sturdy Federalist. 

The house a few rods south, on the site of the one 
now owned by Mr. Thaddeus Keeler, was then occu- 
pied by a loyalist by the name of Hoyt. It was 
through his interposition with General Tryon that 
Mr. Keeler's house was rescued from the torch of^ the 



72 HISTORY OF RWGEFIELD. 

incendiary, the reason for it being attributed to purely 
selfish motives. The wind was blowing strongly from 
the north-west, and his own house would be greatly 
endangered. 

The story is told that Mr. Keeler's house was ac- 
tually set on fire after he had retreated to the woods, 
and that Mr. Hoyt, fearing the effect of the fire on his 
own buildings, obtained permission from the British 
oflficers to extinguish the flames. After the enemy had 
left, Mr. Keeler, returning from the woods, was met by 
Mr. Hoyt, who greeted him with the exclamation, 
" You may thank me that your house was not de- 
stroyed." "No, sir," replied Keeler, "I will not 
thank a Tory for any thing. I would ratJier f/iaiik the 
Lord for the north wind." 

Following close in the wake of the left wing of the 
enemy was a company of half-grown boys — Ebenezer 
Jones, the son of Captain Jones, of the number. 
Coming up to a large rock standing on an eminence 
in a field, now owned by Mr. David Hoyt, a little 
south-east of Mr. Henry Benedict's, they found a 
British soldier who had been mortally wounded. 

Young Jones returned home, and related the circum- 
stance to his father, who, in humanity to a fallen foe, 
saddled his horse, rode down to the spot, and brought 
the wounded soldier to his own house, where he was 
carefully nursed until he died. Then Mr. Jones with 
his own hands made for him a pine cofifin, and buried 
him in the old yard east of Mr. Joel Benjamin's barn. 

Four of the six houses at this time burned by the 
enemy were as follows : viz., the house of Isaac Keeler, 
near Mamanasquag Pond, a house on the High Ridge 
north of Mr. W. O. Seymour's, the house of Benjamin 



INCIDENTS OF RE VOL UTIONAR Y HISTOR Y. J T) 

Northrop, a short distance south of Mr. George 
Haight's, on the opposite side of the road, and a build- 
ing used by the British for the care of their wounded 
over-night, previously occupied by Mr. Thomas Sey- 
mour. This house stood on the south side of the Fair 
Ground, now owned by the Agricultural Society. 

The two buildings on High Ridge were probably 
burned in the evening — the one near Mamanasquag 
Lake in the early part of the day, and the fourth, that 
on the present Fair Ground, on the morning of their 
departure. 

The well standing near the house they filled with 
stones, which have never been removed. Their object 
in filling this well is not known. It may have been 
owing to the supposition that valuables were secreted 
there, or it may have been, as some suppose, that 
their own dead were thrown in it. This last supposi- 
tion, however, is scarcely probable, for they are known 
to have buried those who had died during the night 
in the upper part of Flat Rock woods. 

Among those who witnessed this engagement be- 
tween General Tryon's forces and our own at the head 
of Ridgefield Street was a young man scarcely seven- 
teen years of age, by the name of Jeremiah Keeler. 
The scene aroused all the patriotic fire within his soul, 
and determined his course for the future. At the 
solicitation of Colonel Bradley, he eagerly enlisted in 
the regular army, and by his courage and fidelity re- 
flected great credit upon his native town. 

With the Connecticut line he shared the fatigues 
and dangers of the three memorable years that immedi- 
ately followed. Shortly after which, being selected by 
Baron Steuben, he joined the Light Infantry com- 



74 HISTORY OF RTDGEFIELD. 

manded by General de La Fayette, under whom he 
held the post of orderly sergeant. He was frequently 
appointed to execute difBcult and responsible duties ; 
and on an occasion of this kind the Marquis presented 
him with a sword and his thanks as a testimonial of 
his regard for a faithful and courageous soldier. At 
the memorable siege of Yorktown, when La Fayette's 
Brigade was employed to storm one of the British 
forts, Sergeant Keeler was one of the first who, in the 
midst of a murderous fire, scaled the breastworks and 
compelled the enemy to yield. He witnessed the sur- 
render of Cornwallis, which virtually terminated the 
war, but he remained faithfully at his post until the 
disbanding of the forces in 1783. He was mustered out 
of the service in Virginia, and soon after, with the 
sword which General La Fayette gave him, for a cane, 
he walked back to his native town. 

This sword is still to be seen at his late home in 
South Salem, N. Y., just over the State line. Mr. 
Keeler died February, 1853, aged nearly ninety-three 
years. 

The year following this incursion of the enemy, Gen- 
eral Putnam was ordered into this part of the State, 
just across the Redding line, for the winter, and fears 
of further invasions all subsided. 

An incident of his stay we allude to, for the purpose 
of presenting a picture of army life in that early day, 
as well as of correcting what seems to be a wrong state- 
ment. 

It was late in the autumn of 1778 when General Put- 
nam removed his army from White Plains and Peek- 
skill to Redding, at which place he was to establish 
his head-quarters for the winter. The position thus 



INCIDENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. 



75 



selected was in many respects an advantageous one. 
He was enabled to cover the country adjoining the 
Sound, and the south-western frontier, and at the same 
time to support the garrison at West Point, if neces- 
sary. 

The house which he occupied as his head-quarters is 
still standing, although in a dilapidated condition, and 
is situated on the old Danbury and Norwalk road, 
about three miles west of the Congregational church, 
and is now owned by Mr. Meeker. The north-east 
room of the same house was also at one time occupied 
by Joel Barlow, LL.D., who was a native of this 
town. It was in this room that most of his poetry was 
written. 

General Putnam had, at this time, under his orders. 
General Poor's New Hampshire brigade, two brigades 
of Connecticut troops, the corps of infantry com- 
manded by Colonel Hazen, and the corps of cavalry 
under Colonel Sheldon. 

It was while at Redding that the soldiers suffering 
from the want of proper food and clothing were so 
strongly tempted to rebel against the authority of 
their commanding officers, and, if necessary, at the 
point of the bayonet demand of General Assembly 
what they esteemed their rights. 

We must remember that they were not soldiers by 
profession, they were simply citizens armed for the de- 
fence of their country. They had known and appre- 
ciated the endearments of home, and all the domestic 
enjoyments of life. They were men who had been 
always accustomed to think independently and speak 
out their thoughts, without fear or favor. There- 
fore they were restless under the iron discipline of the 



76 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

camp and the privations which seemed to them need- 
lessly severe. They were ready to suffer and die, if 
need be, for their country ; there was no lack of cour- 
age or patriotism. No thought of insubordination 
probably ever entered their minds when actually en- 
gaged in battle or in the active duties of military life, 
but now their time was passing in comparative idle- 
ness, and they had abundant leisure to brood over 
their privations and their gloomy prospects. And as 
if to fill to overflowing their cup of bitterness, they 
had thus far been paid off in the depreciated currency 
of the times, which had proven almost worthless not 
alone to them, but to their families left in straitened 
circumstances behind them. 

It was under such circumstances that the Connec- 
ticut brigades formed the design of marching to Hart- 
ford, where the Legislature was then sitting, and de- 
mand redress. One of the brigades was actually under 
arms for this purpose when the news for the first 
reached the ears of General Putnam. Springing into 
his saddle, he rode to the cantonment, and thus ad- 
dressed them: 

' " My brave lads, whither are you going ? Do you intend to desert 
your officers, and to invite the enemy to follow you into the country ? 
Whose cause have you been fighting and suffering so long in ? Is it 
not your own ? Have you no property, no parents, wives, or chil- 
dren ? You have behaved like men so far ; all the world is full of your 
praises ; and posterity will stand astonished at your deeds — but not if 
you spoil all at last. Don't you consider how much the country is dis- 
tressed by the war, and that your officers have not been any better 
paid than yourselves ? But we all expect better times, and that the 
country will do us ample justice. Let us stand by one another, then, 
and fight it out like brave soldiers. Think what a shame it would be 
for Connecticut men to run away from their officers." 



INCIDENTS OF RE VOL UTIONAR V HISTOR V. 7 7 

Each regiment received the General with the usual 
salutations as he rode along the lines. When he had 
concluded his address, he directed the acting major of 
brigade to give the word for them to shoulder arms, to 
march to their regimental parades, and there to lodge 
their guns. They obeyed with promptness and ap- 
parent good-humor. A single soldier only who had 
been most active in the affair was confined in the quar- 
ter-guard, and was shot dead by the sentinel while at- 
tempting to escape during the succeeding night. 

During Putnam's stay at Redding, two persons were 
executed — one a soldier, by the name of Smith, who 
was shot for desertion; the other, a Mr. Jones, of 
Ridgefield, a royalist, who was hung as a spy ; both 
suffered on the same day. These executions took place 
on Gallows Hill, a mile or more from General Put- 
nam's head-quarters. 

The scene as described by Mr. Barber in his " His- 
torical Collections" is revolting to every feeling of hu- 
manity, and degrading to the character of the general 
in command. 

He says, page 399: " The man on whom the duty 
of hangman devolved, left the camp, and on the day 
of execution could not be found, A couple of boys, 
about the age of twelve years, were ordered by Gen- 
eral Putnam to perform the duties of the absconding 
hangman. The gallows was about twenty feet from 
the ground. Jones was compelled to ascend the lad- 
der, and the rope around his neck was attached to the 
cross-beam. General Putnam then ordered Jones to 
jump from the ladder. " No, General Putnam," said 
Jones, " I am innocent of the crime laid to my charge ; 
I shall not do it." Putnam then ordered the boys 



78 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

before mentioned to turn the ladder over. The boys 
were deeply affected by the trying scene; they cried 
and sobbed loudly, and earnestly entreated to be ex- 
cused from doing any thing on this distressing occasion. 
Putnam, drawing his sword, ordered them forward, and 
compelled them at the sword's point to obey his or- 
ders. The soldier that was shot for desertion was but 
a youth of sixteen or seventeen years of age. Three 
balls were shot through his breast; he fell on his face, 
but immediately turned over on his back; a soldier 
then advanced, and, putting the muzzle of his gun near 
the convulsive body of the youth, discharged its con- 
tents into his forehead. The body was then taken up 
and put into a coffin. The soldiers had fired their 
pieces so near that they set the boy's clothing on fire, 
which continued burning. An officer with a drawn 
sword stood by, while every soldier of the three bri- 
gades which were out on the occasion was ordered to 
march by and look at the mangled remains. 

Mr. Barber says, in a foot-note, that the particulars 
of the execution of these two persons were derived 
from an aged inhabitant of Redding, who was present 
on the occasion, and stood but a few feet from Jones 
when he was executed. 

Mr, Hollister, however, in his " History of Connec- 
ticut," does not credit the account given by Mr. Bar- 
ber. The following note taken from Vol. 2, page 375, 
will explain itself: 

" The Rev. Nathaniel Bartlelt, who was Pastor of the Cong' 
church in Redding for a period of fifty years, officiated as chaplain to 
the encampment during the winter, and was present at the execution. 
He interceded with Gen. Putnam to defer the execution of Smith until 
Washington could be consulted— the offender being a youth of seven- 



INCIDENTS OF RE VOL UTIONAR Y HISTOR V. yg 

teen years ; but the commander assured him that a reprieve could not 
be granted. 

" Mr. Bartlett was an earnest and fearless Whig, and openly talked 
and preached ' rebellion ;' so much so that the Tories, who were 
numerous in the eastern part of the town, threatened to hang him if 
they could catch him. In consequence of these threats, he often 
carried a loaded musket with him when on his parochial visits. His 
son, and successor in the ministry, at Redding — the Rev. Jonathan 
Bartlett, now (1855) in his gist year — well remembers the Revolutionary 
encampment at Redding, and frequently visited it. He is sure that the 
story in Barber's ' Historical Collections ' about Putnam's inhumanity 
at the execution of Smith and Jones is incorrect. Though not pres- 
ent himself, he has often heard his father relate the incidents of the 
occasion ; and, furthermore, he once called the attention of Col. 
Ashbel Salmon (who died in 1848, aged 91), who was a sergeant in 
attendance upon the execution, to the statement, and he declared that 
nothing of the kind took place." 

As further evidence of the incorrectness of Mr. Bar- 
ber's statement, we would offer the following extract 
from the notes of a sermon preached in the Congrega- 
tional church in Green's 'Farms, by Rev. Thomas F. 
Davies (father of the present Dr. Davies, of Philadel- 
phia), on March 29th, 1839. 

Referring to this matter as related by Mr. Barber, 
he says : 

" Mr. Barber must have been misinformed. Reading is my native 
town, and from my boyhood I have heard the history of the proceed- 
ings on the occasion referred to, and was much surprised at the state- 
ments in the ' Historical Collections.' The Rev. Mr. Bartlett, whose 
father was chaplain on that occasion, informs me that Gen. Putnam 
could not have been guilty of the acts there charged. 

" That Mr Barber may have something to substitute for the narra- 
tive to which I object, I give the following: When Gen. Putnam occu- 
pied the house of which Mr. Barber has given an engraving, a scene 
occurred which presents the general in a very amiable light : A poor 
man with a family needing support, and who lived in the neighboring 
town of Ridgefield, was told by one acquainted with his wants that if 



8o HISTORY OF RFDGEFIELD. 

he would visit Gen. Putnam and hold a conversation with him, he 
would, on his return, and on proof of the fact, give him a bushel of 
wheat. The temptation in that time of scarcity and taxes was great, 
and so also was the fear of intruding upon so distinguished an indi- 
vidual ; but the stern necessities of his condition at length induced the 
poor man to venture. He accordingly presented himself at head- 
quarters, and requested the servant to solicit for him an interview with 
the general. Putnam promptly summoned the man to his presence, 
directed him to be seated, and listened with interest while the man 
with great trepidation gave the statement which accounted for the 
liberty he had taken. The general directed the servant to bring some 
wine, conversed for a time very pleasantly with his needy visitor, and 
then calling for pen and ink wrote a certificate, in which he gives the 
name of the individual, and stated that he had visited and conversed 
with Gen. Putnam, who signed it in his official character. Thus 
furnished with the means of giving bread to his family, the distressed 
individual returned to his humble roof, and this anecdote, which I have 
on the very best authority, is proof that Putnam was not destitute of 
those kind and gentle affections which are so desirable an ornament 
of the most heroic character." • 

Among the most familiar names in the town a half 
century ago was that of General Joshua King. He 
was the father of the present Hon. Joshua I. King, who 
in 1849 represented the eleventh district in the State 
Senate, and of the late Rufus H. King, a well-known 
merchant of Albany. 

When General King was but seventeen years of age 
he enlisted in the regular army, and served with great 
bravery and fidelity until the close of the war. 

At the time of Major Andre's capture, General King 
(then Lieutenant in the Second Regiment of Light 
Dragoons, under Colonel Sheldon) was stationed in 
South Salem. The house which was occupied by 
Lieutenant King, and which has been but recently re- 
moved, stood about one mile north of the Presbyterian 
Church. 




RESIDENCE OF HON. JOSHUA I. KING 



INCIDEN TS OF RE VOL UTIONAR V HISTOR Y. 8 I 

The morning after the capture of Andre, he was 
brought to Lieutenant King's quarters. Lieutenant 
King was at the moment being shaved. After his 
valet had finished the operation and had dressed his 
hair, Lieutenant King turned to his prisoner and poHte- 
ly inquired if like services would not also be agreeable 
to him. Lieutenant King did not at the time recog- 
nize in Major Andre so distinguished a personage, but 
was nevertheless impressed with the belief that what- 
ever his rank as a soldier might be, he was at all events 
a gentleman. His dusty and somewhat rusty garments, 
his soiled and travel-stained linen could not effectually 
hide those distinctive marks which always betray re- 
finement and culture. 

Major Andre readily accepted the kind offer, and 
was soon under the careful manipulations of the valet. 
As soon as the powder began to fly from the prisoner's 
hair, the Lieutenant was convinced that he was by no 
means an ordinary man. 

After being shaved and having his hair dressed, he 
courteously asked the privilege of retiring to his bed, 
that he might have his soiled linen washed. Lieuten- 
ant King assured him that such a step would be un- 
necessary, as he himself would supply him with what- 
ever change he might desire. The Major, with many 
expressions of gratitude, availed himself of the Lieu- 
tenant's hospitality, and soon appeared in a much im- 
proved condition. The most friendly relations, consist- 
ent with their respective positions, at once sprang up 
between the two; they walked and talked as inclination 
led, and at night occupied the same bed. 

The Lieutenant and two of his men were detailed to 
convey Major Andre to head-quarters. While on their 



82 HIS TOR y OF RIDGEFIELD. 

way a despatch informed General King for the first 
who his illustrious prisoner was ; that he was no less 
a personage than the Adjutant-General of the British 
Army, that he was suspected of being a spy, and hold- 
ing a treasonable correspondence with Arnold, for the 
surrender of West Point. So soon as the message 
was received. Major Andre eagerly inquired whether 
Arnold had actually succeeded in making his escape, 
evincing seemingly more interest in Arnold's safety 
than in his own. 

After they arrived at head-quarters. General King's 
relations with the prisoner were no less intimate; al- 
though closely confined, he remained with him till his 
execution, even walking with him to the gallows. 

In relating the circumstances afterward to a friend, 
General King said that when Andre first caught sight 
of the fatal gibbet he gave a sudden start, and ex- 
claimed, " I am reconciled to death, but not to the 
mode," and added, " it will be but a momentary 
pang. 

On arriving at the spot, the brave and accomplished 
young officer mounted the cart, adjusted the rope to 
his neck with his own hands, and paid the penalty of 
his unsuccessful espionage. 

In the year 1817, General King was written to by a 
friend who desired to know the exact facts in relation 
to Major Andre's capture, etc. The following fetter 
was written by General King in reply, and although 
previously solicited for publication, is now for the first 
given to the public : 

" RiDGEFiELD, June 17"', 1817. 
" Dear Sir : Yours of the 9"' is before me. I have noted the con- 
tents and am sorry to express the indignation I feel at the idea of being 



I NCI DEN TS OF HE VOL UTIONA R V HIS TOR V. 83 

obliged to translate a foreign language to obtain a true history of any 
part of our revolution. The facts, so far as I am acquainted with 
them, I will state to the best of my ability or recollection. Paulding, 
Williams and Van Wort I never saw before, or since, that event, I 
know nothing about them. The time and place where they stopped 
Major Andre, seems to justify the character you have drawn of them. 
The truth is, to the imprudence of the man, and not the patriotism of 
any one, is to be ascribed the capture of Major Andre. I was the 
first and only officer who had charge of him whilst at the Headquarters 
of the 2'"' Regiment of Light Dragoons, which was then at Esquire 
Gilbert's in South Salem. He was brought up by an adjutant and 
four men belonging to the Connecticut militia under the command of 
Lieut Col Jamison from the lines near Tarrytown, a character under 
the disguised name of John Anderson. He looked somewhat like a 
reduced gentleman. His small clothes were nankin, with long white 
top boots, in part, his undress military suit. His coat purple, with gold 
lace, worn somewhat threadbare, with a small brimmed tarnished 
beaver on his head. He wore his hair in a quieu with long, black, 
band and his clothes somewhat dirty. In this garb I took charge of 
him. After breakfast my Barber came in to dress me — after which, I 
requested hu)i to undergo the same operation, which he did. 

" When the ribbon was taken from his hair, I observed it full of 
powder. This circumstance, with others that occurred, induced me to 
believe I had no ordinary person in charge. 

" He requested permission to take the bed, whilst his shirt and small 
clothes could be washed. I told him, that was needless, for a change 
was at his service, — which he accepted. 

" We were close pent up in a bedroom with a guard at the door and 
window. There was a spacious yard before the door, which he de- 
sired he might be permitted to walk in with me. I accordingly dis- 
posed of my guard in such a manner as to prevent an escape. While 
walking together, he observed, he must make a confidant of somebody 
and he knew not a more proper person than myself, as I had appeared 
to befriend a stranger in distress. After settling the point between 
ourselves, he told me who he was, and gave me a short account of 
himself from the time he was taken at St. Johns in 1775 to that time. 
He requested pen and ink and wrote immediately to Gen' Washing- 
ton, declaring who he was. About midnight the express returned with 
orders from Gen' Washington to Col Sheldon to send Major Andre 
immediately to Headquarters. 

" I started with him and before I got to North Salem meeting house 



84 



HISTORY OF RlDGEFIELD. 



met another express with a letter directed to the Officer who had Major 
Andre in charge, and which letter directed a circuitous route to Head- 
quarters for fear of re-capture, and gave an account of Arnold's de- 
sertion &c — with directions to forward the letter to Col Sheldon. I 
did so, and before I got to the end of my journey, I was joined by 
Captain Hoodgers first and after, by Major Talmadge and Captain 
Rogers. Having given you this clue, I proceed with the major's own 
story. He said, he came up the North river in the sloop of war 
Vulture for the purpose of seeing a person by flag of truce. That was 
not however accomplished. Of course he had to come ashore in a skiff, 
and after he had done his business, the wind was so high, the Dutch- 
man who took him ashore dare not venture to return him on board. 
The night following the militia had lined the shore, so that no attempt 
would be made with safety, consequently he was furnished, after chang- 
ing his clothes, with a continental horse and General Arnold's pass, 
and was to take a route by Peekskill, Crumpound, Pinesbridge, Sing 
Sing, Tarrytown, &c to New York. 

" Nothing occurred to disturb him on his route until he arrived at the 
last place, except at Crumpound. He told me, his hair stood erect and 
his heart was in his mouth on meeting Col Samuel B. Webb of our 
army plump in the face. An acquaintance of his said that Col Stod- 
dert knew him and he thought that he was gone but they kept moving 
along and soon passed each other. He then thought himself past all 
danger and while ruminating on his good luck and hairbreadth escapes, 
he was assailed by three bushmen near Tarrytown, who ordered him 
to stand. He said to them, ' I hope gentlemen you belong to the 
lower party.' 'We do,' says one. 'So do I,' says he, 'and by 
the token of this ring and key you will let me pass,' ' I am a British 
officer on business of importance and must not be detained.' One 
of them took his watch from him and then ordered him to dismount. 
The moment that was done, he said he found he was mistaken, he must 
shift his tone. He says, ' I am happy gentlemen to find I am mis- 
taken' — ' you belong to the upper party and so do I,' and to con- 
vince you of it here is Gen' Arnold's pass, handing it to them. 
'Damn Arnold's pass,' said they. 'You said you were a British 
officer. Where is your money ?' ' Gentlemen I have none about 
me,' he replied. 'You a British Officer with a gold watch and no 
money ! let us search him.' They did so, but found none. Says 
one, ' He has got his money in his boots, lets have them off and 
see.' They took off his boots and there they found his papers, but 
no money. They then examined his saddle, but found none. He said 



I NCI DEN TS OF RE VOL U TIONA K V HIS TOR V. 8 5 

he saw they had such a thirst for money, he would put them in the 
way to get it, if they would be directed by him. He asked them to name 
their sum to deliver him at King'sbridge. They answered him in 
this way, ' If we deliver you at King'sbridge, we shall be sent to the 
sugar-house and you will save your money.' He says, ' If you will 
not trust my honor, two of you may stay with me and one shall go 
with the letter I will write, name your sum — the sum was agreed 
upon, but I cannot recollect whether it was 500 or 1000 guineas but 
the latter, I think, was the sum. They held a consultation a consider- 
able time and finally they told him if he wrote, a party would be sent 
out and take them and then they should all be prisoners. They said, 
' they had concluded to take him to the commanding Officer ,on the 
lines.' They did so and retained the watch until Gen' Washington sent 
for them to Tappan, when the watch was restored to Major Andre. 
Thus, you see, had money been at command, after the imprudent con- 
fession of Major Andre, or any security given that the British would 
have put confidence in, he might have passed on to Sir Henry Clinton's 
Headquarters with all his papers and Arnold's pass into the bargain. 
I do not recollect to have seen a true statement of this business in any 
history that has fallen into my hands. If my memory serves me, 
Arnold solicited and obtained, the command of West Point in conse- 
quence of his being an invalid and the reason why his negociation 
was not completed by flag of truce, I will state what Gen' Washing- 
ton told the French ambassador. Lucerne. He stated on his route to 
Hartford, that he dined with Gen' Arnold at Haverstraw at Joshua 
Smith's, where Arnold and Andre met. Gen' Arnold shewed him a 
letter from Gen' Robinson directed to Gen' Israel Putnam, or Officer 
commanding West Point requesting an interview by flag on business 
of the first importance to the United States. Gen' Arnold asked Gen' 
Washington if he should go and hear what he had to say. Gen' Wash- 
ington replied that it would be very improper for the Commander in 
chief of a post to meet anybody himself — he could send a trusty hand 
if he thought proper. But, he added, I had no more suspicion of 
Arnold than I had of myself. This accounts for Major Andre's 
failure to negociate by flag and his subsequent movements. I have 
thus complied with your request, giving you such facts, viz, what I 
had from the mouth of Major Andre and what I heard Gen' Washing- 
ton tell the French minister soon after the execution of Andre." 

J. Howard King, Esq., has in his possession the 

5 



86 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

chair used by Major Andre while a prisoner in the 
hands of his grandfather, General Joshua King.* 

Major Andre in all probability occupied the chair 
when he penned his celebrated letter to Washington, 
for by reference to Irving's " Life of Washington" it 
will be seen that this letter was written while at South 
Salem. Then it was that he was for the first made 
acquainted with the fact that the papers found se- 
creted in his boots had been forwarded to General 
Washington. 

He immediately sat down and wrote the following 
lines : 

" I beg your Excellency will be persuaded that no 
alteration in the temper of my mind or apprehensions 
for my safety induces me to take the step of address- 
ing you ; but that it is to secure myself from the im- 
putation of having assumed a mean character for 
treacherous purposes, or self-interest. It is to vindi- 
cate my fame that I speak, and not to solicit security. 

" The person in your possession is Major John 
Andre, Adjutant-general of the British Army. 

" The influence of one commander in the army of 
his adversary is an advantage taken in war. A corre- 
spondence for this purpose I held, as confidential (in 
the present instance) with his Excellency Sir Henry 
Clinton. To favor it, I agreed to meet upon ground 
not within the posts of either army, a person who was 
to give me intelligence. I came up in the Vulture man- 
of-war for this effect, and was fetched from the shore 
to the beach. Being there, I was told that the ap- 
proach of day would prevent my return, and that I 
must be concealed until the next night. I was in my 
regimentals and had fairly risked my person. 

" Against my stipulation, my intention, and without 

* Through an oversight of the printer, this paragraph was inserted 
on p. 67 also. 



IN CI DEM TS OF RE VOL U TIONA R V HIS TORY. 87 

my knowledge beforehand, I was conducted within 
one of your posts. Thus was I betrayed into the vile 
condition of an enemy within your posts. 

" Having avowed myself a British officer, I have 
nothing to reveal but what relates to myself, which is 
true, on the honor of an officer and a gentleman. 

" The request I have made to your Excellency, and 
I am conscious that I address myself well, is, that in 
any rigor policy may dictate, a decency of conduct 
towards me may mark that, though unfortunate, I am 
branded with nothing dishonorable ; as no motive 
could be mine but the service of my king, and as I 
was involuntarily an impostor." 

It was here also that, having a talent for caricature, 
he amused himself by making a ludicrous sketch of 
himself and his rustic escort under march, and present- 
ing it to an officer in the room (probably General King), 
said gayly : " This will give you an idea of the style in 
which I have had the honor to be conducted to my 
present abode." 

Although it is eminently fitting, it is none the less 
an illustration of the mysterious manner in which an 
overruling Providence arranges the affairs of this life, 
that the cliair occupied by the illustrious prisoner of 
General King should, by mere accident seemingly, fall 
into the hands of his grandson, who a hundred years 
after the event recorded returns to make for himself a 
summer home on the exact spot where his grandfather 
had first resided after his marriage, and within a few 
miles of the house wherein Major Andre was confined. 

The parish of Ridgebury is situated in the northern 
extremity of the town, and is separated from the vil- 
lage of Ridgefield by a gorge or ravine anci a range of 
rugged hills formerly known as the Asproom ledge. 



88 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

So distinct and well defined is this dividing line that 
the two parishes present the appearance of two town- 
ships. This is the part of the town heretofore referred 
to as the New Patent, having been granted the town 
as part compensation for the oblong which was set off 
to the State of New York. 

During the Revolutionary war, a goodly number of 
the inhabitants of this part of the town took up arms 
in defence of the country. Upon the approach of the 
British troops under General Tryon, on Sunday, April 
27th, 1777, after the burning of the military stores at 
Danbury, most of the people fled through the rain 
that at the time was falling to a hill about one and one 
half miles north-west of the present Congregational 
Church. 

From their position they could distinctly see the 
Regulars, as they were termed, pass through the village. 
First came a rude body of Light Horse, then three 
pieces of cannon, followed by the main body, said to be 
two thousand strong, with three pieces of cannon in 
the rear. 

As they passed the house of Captain Timothy Bene- 
dict, standing on the corner of the road leading to 
Danbur)', they fired two pistol shots at some person 
looking out at a window, but without doing any harm. 

As the Light Horsemen passed through the out- 
skirts of the village on the west they fired at several 
persons near the New York State line. About 9.30 
A.M., and within half an hour after Tryon's departure, 
Major-General Wooster with a detachment of two hun- 
dred men pursued him on the road leading to Ridge- 
field village. 



INCIDENTS OF REVOIU TIONA R Y HIS TOR Y. 8 9 

It appears that a raid had for some weeks been ex- 
pected, and in consequence of a rumor circulated to 
that effect on Sunday, April 13th, just two weeks pre- 
vious, the inhabitants, after secreting many of their 
valuables in wells and caves, fled with such articles as 
they could conveniently carry with them to a place of 
safety on a neighboring hill. 

The late Hon. Benjamin Lynes, then a lad of some 
sixteen years, and a resident of Redding, was taken 
prisoner by General Tryon, and compelled to accom- 
pany him several miles toward Danbury, when, on ac- 
count of his youth, he was set at liberty. 

In September, 1780, General Washington having 
received a communication from Count de Rocham- 
beau, commander-in-chief of the French forces then 
at Newport, requesting an interview at Hartford, Ct., he 
left Verplanck's Point on the Hudson on the i8th of 
the month, passed through Peekskill, and spent the 
night in Ridgebury, at the hotel of Ensign Samuel 
Keeler. 

Mrs. Rebecca Boughton, daughter of Daniel Coley, 
Esq., then about twelve years of age, often spoke of 
having seen him and his aid on that occasion. 

On the 23d of May, 1781, Washington again inter- 
viewed Count de Rochambeau. This time at Wethers- 
field, Ct., for the purpose of settling upon a definite 
plan of campaign. It is probable that at this inter- 
view arrangements were made to remove the French 
army to a point in the State near the York State line, 
so that they could at short notice join the American 
army ; for during the following month, Rochambeau 
and Duke de Lauzun (Lauzun-Biron) marched from 



90 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



Newport across the State of Connecticut and took post 
at Ridgebury. 

During their stay in Ridgebury the main body of 
Rochambeau's army encamped on the ridge just east 
of the main street, on land now owned by Samuel S. 
St. John, Esq. One division took post on a hill about 
one mile south of the church near the school-house. 
At this point the army was about equally distant from 
Long Island Sound and the Hudson River. Count 
de Rochambeau and suite are said to have made their 
head-quarters at Ensign Keeler's hotel. 

Several carts loaded with specie were placed under a 
strong guard, on the premises and near the dwelling of 
Daniel Coley, Esq., midway between the two divisions. 
The supplies for the whole French army were trans- 
ported in carts — 8io in number — most of them drawn 
by two pairs of oxen and a horse, then designated as 
a five-cattle team. 

The late Thomas Boughton, at that time too young 
to join the regular army, hired as teamster to the 
French, driving his father's team. He accompanied 
the supply train from Connecticut to Virginia, and was 
present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. In 
after years he often spoke of the magnificent display 
made by Rochambeau's army on that occasion. 

On the 2d of July, 1781, Duke de Lauzun left his 
encampment, and marched his forces to East Chester, 
N. Y., where he arrived on the morning of the 3d, his 
purpose being the capture or destruction of Delancy's 
corps of refugees at Morrisania. 

Count de Rochambeau, with the main body of his 
army, probably broke camp at Ridgebury on the 4th 



INCIDEN TS OF RE VOL U TIONA R V HIS TOR Y. 9 1 

of July, 1781, as they joined General Washington at 
Dobb's Ferry on the 6th. 

A liberty-pole erected by the Whigs about the com- 
mencement of the war was in the night cut down by 
the Tories. This exasperated the former, who at once 
raised another, filling it for several feet with spikes 
and pieces of old iron, to protect it against a similar 
disaster. About the year i860 some two feet of this 
pole was dug up by William M. Lynes, Esq. It was 
in a fair state of preservation and still contained many 
of its iron protectors. 

During the war several families residing in Ridge- 
bury improved every opportunity to aid King George 
in his efforts to subdue the colonies, or, in other and 
plainer words, were Tories. 

In some instances they converted their cellars into 
places of conealment and security, where such as had 
made themselves particularly obnoxious to the Whigs 
by their loyalty to the Crown could be safely secreted. 

These hiding-places were approached by trap- doors 
made in the floor beneath beds. Through these doors 
the occupant was supplied with food by the less objec- 
tionable Tories. In some instances they were arrested 
by the government officers and imprisoned. One went 
back to England, but returned after the war, arid was 
supported and buried at the expense of the town. 



CHAPTER VII. 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

The Congregational Church was the first Christian 
organization of the town. Under date of October, a.d. 
1 712, the following act of General Assembly, then con- 
vened in Hartford, is recorded : 

" Upon the petition of the Inhabitants of the Town 
of Ridgefield requesting that the charges for the main- 
tenance of the ministry in the said Town of Ridgefield, 
may be levyed in equal proportion upon all the lands 
belonging to the several proprietors in the said Town, 

" This Assembly order that all the lands lying in the 
Township of Ridgefield be taxed in proportion for four 
years, towards the settling and maintaining of the min- 
istry in the said Town of Ridgefield." 

As early as the year 171 3, the Rev, Thomas Hawley, 
of Northampton, had come to the young settlement as 
a preacher of the Gospel. There were doubtless others 
who had preceded him as occasional supplies, but as 
the earliest records of the church were destroyed many 
years ago, the names of such and their terms of service 
are lost. 

In the year 17 14, General Assembly granted " unto 
the Inhabitants of the Town of Ridgefield to imbody 
into Church Estate and settle an orthodox minister 
among them." 

Rev. Thomas Hawley was probably formally settled 
over the church as its pastor in the same year, and 
continued his labors among them until the time of his 




CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 



CONG REG A TIONAL CHURCH. 



93 



death, which occurred on the 8th of November, 1738, 
in the forty-ninth year of his age. Mr. Hawley was a 
graduate of Harvard College, and the ancestor of the 
families of the same name, so well known in the town. 
He held for a number of years many of the important 
ofifices of the town, and gained a reputation for energy 
and ability, originating and directing many of the en- 
terprises of the early settlers. 

The year following the death of Mr, Hawley, Rev. 
Jonathan IngersoU, a native of Stratford, Ct., was in- 
vited to settle in the gospel ministry. This invitation 
Mr. IngersoU accepted, and was duly installed on the 
8th of August, 1739. Previous to coming to Ridge- 
field he resided for some time in Newark, N. J., and 
was licensed by the Presbytery of New Jersey at Eliza- 
bethtown, February 15th, 1738. 

At the meeting of the Western Consociation, Fair- 
field County, which installed Mr. IngersoU, there were 
present the following ministers : 

Rev. Robert Sturgeon, Rev. Moses Dickinson, Rev. 
Ebenezer Wright, Rev. John Goodsell, Rev, Ephraim 
Bostwick, Rev. William Gaylord. 

Delegates : From Bedford, Captain Jonathan Miller ; 
Norwalk, John Copp, Esq. ; Stamford, Abraham 
Davenport ; Greenfield, Benjamin Banks ; Wilton, 
Benjamin Hickox, Esq. ; Green's Farms, Samuel 
Couch, Esq. 

Rev. Mr. Goodsell offered the first prayer and gave 
the right hand of fellowship. Rev. Mr. Dickinson 
preached the sermon and ofTered the prayer of ordina- 
tion. Rev. Mr. Sturgeon gave the charge, and Rev. 
Mr. Todd, who had been invited to sit with the council, 
offered the closing prayer. 



94 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Mr. Ingersoll was a graduate of Yale College, and 
a man of a fine mind and a good heart. He served 
the church with great faithfulness until his death, 
which occurred October 2d, 1778, in the sixty-fifth 
year of his age. 

In the year 1758, Mr. Ingersoll joined the Colonial 
troops as chaplain, on Lake Champlain. He is said 
to have exerted an excellent influence in the army, and 
to have been highly respected by the soldiers. A letter 
written on the eve of his departure for the army, to his 
brother, Hon. R. I. Ingersoll, of New Haven, indicates 
clearly the temper and spirit of the man : 

" RiDGEFiELD, June 9th, A.D. 1738. 

" Dear Brother : 

"Yours from Hartford, the ist instant, came safe to 
hand by Mr. Olmstead, for which I am heartily 
obliged to you. I remarked in particular, your ob- 
serving something of heaviness in my countenance at 
parting with you, at New Haven — upon which I would 
observe that this bidding farewell is a difificult thing, 
and tends greatly to move the passions. This sin being 
a natural infirmity, you will easily overlook. Blessed 
be God, I am neither disheartened nor elevated, but 
enjoy a good temper of mind, and can, I think, put 
my life in the hands of God and go forth freely and 
cheerfully, in so important though dangerous an enter- 
prise. I have this day received a line from Colonel 
Wooster, by which I am informed that I must be at 
Norwalk to-morrow in order to embark for Albany. 
I am ready, and rejoice at the news. He also informs 
me that you are appointed agent, and have accepted, at 
which I greatly rejoice, and hope your courage will 
hold out, and desire that you will be made a blessing 
to your country and government in this important un- 
dertaking. The office is very honorable, and I hope 
will be profitable to you and the government. By no 



CONGRE GA TIONA L CH URCH. 



95 



means refuse, but look upon it as a favor of Provi- 
dence. To love God with all our heart and our neigh- 
bor as ourselves, is the great gospel command. And 
to be impressed in such an important affair, must be 
looked upon as a favor from Heaven ; for the voice 
of the people (to judge rationally) is the voice of God, 
when they look to him for his influence and direction. 
" Your family need you and desire you, and so does 
mine me ; but private matters must submit to the pub- 
lic good. Sister, I hope, will quietly acquiesce — from 
a view of your usefulness, though it be a piece of great 
self-denial. I could wish you had had the small-pox-— a 
terror to the world, and perhaps it would be best to go 
to Doctor Munson on Long Island, and innoculate — 
and was I not going abroad as I am, I would go and 
be with you. With respect to cautions and advice you 
give, I accept them well, and would give the same to 
you. And so, my brother, go in the fear of God — be 
true to your trust, and farewell. Whether we see 
each other in this life or not, let us labor to meet in 
glory. 

I remain your affectionate brother, 

" Jonathan Ingersoll. 

" P. S. — We are all well. Send our compliments, 
particularly our love to Dorcas, and tell her to live in 
the fear of God." 

Mr. Hawley and Mr. Ingersoll were buried in the 
Titicus Cemetery, The stones which mark their graves 
bear the following inscriptions : 

Here lyes buried 

THE BODY OF Y'' ReV. 

THOMAS HAULEY 

Pastor of y" Church 

AT RiDGEFIELD 

Nov. Y" 8, 1738 
Aged 42 Years. 



g6 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

In Memory 

OF THE Rev. 

JONATHAN INGERSOLL Pastor 

OF Y* 1ST Church in Ridgefield 

WHO Deceased Oct. 2. a.d. 

1778 IN Y '' 65. Year of his 

Age, & 40"' of his Ministry. 

After the death of Mr. Ingersoll, there seems to have 
been a vacancy of eight years, during which time the pul- 
pit was in part suppHed by Rev. Justice Mitchell, who, 
in January, 1783, was ordained pastor of the Congrega- 
tional Church of New Canaan, and in part by Rev. 
Izrahiah Wetmore and Rev. — — Everitt, as the fol- 
lowing receipts will show : 

" Ridgefield, Dec. 27, 1781. 
" Rec^' of the Gentl" the Societys' Committee Nine 
Bushels of Wheat being in full for nine Dollars sent 
Parson Everitt. Peter Byvanck," 

" Ridgefield, Oct. y" 5th, 1786. 
" Pay the Rev'^ Izrahiah Wetmore Twenty Seven 
pounds Eleven Shillings, and four pence Lawfull Money 
on Demand with Interest at Six per cent per annum 
for which this is our order. 

" Societys Committee. 

" To Benjamin Smith Treasurer of the first Society in Ridgefield." 

On the 6th of July, 1786, Rev. Samuel Goodrich, of 
Durham, of this State, was ordained and installed as 
pastor of the church. The services on this occasion are 
said to have been of unusual interest. The father of 
the newly settled pastor preached the sermon and gave 
the charge, both to his son and the church. The vene- 
rable appearance of the aged, gray-haired father was in 
striking contrast with the youthful and almost boyish 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 



97 



appearance of the son. It was age and experience 
counselling youth and inexperience. It was a man of 
God, who had borne the burden and heat of the day, 
and was ready to depart, casting his mantle upon the 
shoulders of another just entering upon the work. 

Mr. Goodrich served the church as its pastor for 
upwards of twenty-five years. He was dismissed Jan- 
uary 22d, 1811, at his own request, and on the 29th of 
May, 181 1, he was installed at Worthington, a parish 
in the town of Berlin, in this State. He was the father 
of Samuel G. Goodrich, the renowned Peter Parley, 
whose sketch of Ridgefield, written in 1855, we have 
given to our readers. Mr. Goodrich also was the au- 
thor of a manuscript history of the town, which was 
written and lodged in the library of the Athenaeum at 
Hartford, in the year 1800, extracts from which we 
have also given. 

The labors of Mr. Goodrich were eminently blessed, 
and the church during his ministry enjoyed many sea- 
sons of revival, and large additions were made to it. 

Mr. Goodrich was for several years a Trustee of the 
Missionary Society of Connecticut, and a Director of 
the Connecticut Bible Society, in both of which he 
manifested a warm interest. 

His last sermon was preached at Woodbury, Ct., and 
the impression then made, under a religious excitement 
among the people, is thought to have been long re- 
membered. 

His last sickness was short, and as the disease early 
affected the brain he was favored with but few lucid 
intervals ; but during those he manifested a full knowl- 
edge of his danger and a willingness to depart and be 
with Christ. 



98 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

The conversation which passed between his son, the 
Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, and himself, a short time 
before his death, evinces the clearness of his faith and 
his perfect reliance upon God's promises. 

His son asked him if he was aware that his case was 
becoming critical. He replied that he understood that 
this was the opinion of his physician. 

" And in view of a speedy departure, do you feel re- 
signed ?" the son inquired. 

" I think so," he replied. 

" Father," continued his son, "you have preached 
the gospel many years, are you willing to die by that 
gospel ?" 

" Certainly," said he. 

" Can you say, with the Psalmist, though I walk 
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear 
no evil f*" 

" Yes," said the father, and himself added, extend- 
ing the quotation, " Thy rod and thy staff, they com- 
fort me." 

"There is yet one question more I would ask, 
father," said the son. " Your parishioners will wish 
to know, and especially your children, whether, in the 
prospect of a speedy death, your faith in a crucified 
Redeemer is firm and unwavering?" 

" My son," replied he, as if he wondered why the 
question should be asked, " my soul, I trust, is on the 
rock of ages, and my confidence in God is as firm as the 
everlasting mountains. 

Mr, Goodrich died at Berlin, Ct., April 19th, 1835, 
aged seventy-two years. 

After the dismissal of Mr. Goodrich, the church was 
again destitute of a settled pastor for several years. 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 99 

Rev. Jonathan Bartlett supplied the pulpit from 
181 1 to 1814, and was succeeded by Rev. John Noyes, 
who supplied from 18 14 to 18 17. 

During Mr. Bartlett's ministry, he proposed to the 
society to raise a fund, the annual income of which 
should be appropriated for the support of the preach- 
ing of the gospel, and, as an encouragement to the un- 
dertaking, he generously gave to the society the sum 
of fifty dollars. As the result of this effort the perma- 
nent fund of the society at the present time is about 
$8000. 

On the 2d of February, 181 7, the church invited the 
Rev. Samuel M. Phelps to become their pastor, and 
consociation was convened on the 20th day of March 
following, for the purpose of his installation. For rea- 
sons which do not appear upon the church records, the 
consociation refused to install him ; whereupon, on the 
24th day of March, the church seceded from the con- 
sociation of the Western District of Fairfield County, 
and with the society invited a body of ministers from 
the Westchester Presbytery to install him over said 
church and society. That body met in the month of 
June following, and Mr. Phelps was by them regularly 
installed as their minister, according to the usages and 
customs of said Presbytery. Mr. Phelps continued 
his labors here until the month of December, 1829, 
when he was by the members of the Presbytery afore- 
said regularly dismissed, and his ministry in this place 
ceased. 

The church, at a regular meeting held on the 31st day 
of March, 1831, with great unanimity rescinded their 
vote of secession passed February 24th, 181 7, and be- 
came reunited to the consociation of the Western Dis- 



lOO HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

trict of Fairfield County, and on the same day they in- 
vited the Rev, Charles G. Selleck, of Darien, to be- 
come their pastor, and he was ordained and installed on 
the 25th day of May, 1831. Mr. Selleck's ministry 
continued until the 6th day of September, 1837. The 
most perfect harmony existed between the church and 
society and Mr. Selleck during the whole period of his 
ministry. At his special request (believing he was 
called by Providence to minister to the Presbyterian 
Church in Alton, 111.), he was regularly dismissed by 
consociation. 

During Mr. Selleck's ministry, the church enjoyed 
three precious seasons of religious interest — viz., in 
183 1, '32, and '33, and as the fruits thereof about one 
hundred and eighty persons were added to the church. 

Mr. Selleck is still living. A few years since, at an 
advanced age, he removed to Florida and made for 
himself a home, where he still resides. 

On the 1 8th of January, 1838, the church and so- 
ciety invited the Rev. Joseph Fuller to settle among 
them, and on the 27th of February following the con- 
sociation met, and Mr. Fuller was regularly installed 
as their pastor. 

His ministry continued about four years, in which 
time the church enjoyed another season of revival, and 
about sixty persons united with it. On the 17th of 
May, 1842, by the united request of Mr. Fuller and 
the church, the consociation met, and Mr. Fuller was 
dismissed from his pastoral charge. 

After the dismissal of Mr. Fuller, the church was 
without a settled pastor for seventeen months, during 
which time the pulpit was regularly supplied, and an 
interesting work of grace ensued, by which about 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. lOI 

twenty, mostly young persons, united themselves to the 
church by profession. 

On the 1 8th of September, 1843, ^^'^^ church and 
society, each by unanimous votes, extended to the Rev. 
James A, Hawley a call to become their pastor, which 
call he accepted, and on the 25th of October follow- 
ing he was regularly installed as such. 

Mr. Hawley's connection as pastor continued until 
November 5th, 1849, when at his request he was dis- 
missed by consociation. During the years 1845 ^'^'^ 
1848 the church enjoyed seasons of revival, and as the 
fruits thereof about forty persons were added to it. 

Believing that the best interests of the church would 
be secured by having a settled pastor, the church and 
society with marked unanimity, on the 6th of May, 
1850, extended to the Rev. Clinton Clark a call to 
settle among them. The call was accepted, and Mr. 
Clark was duly installed June 5th, 1850. 

Mr. Clark's connection as pastor of this church con- 
tinued nearly fourteen years, or until April 5th, 1864, at 
which time he was dismissed, and soon after entered 
upon the duties of acting pastor of the Congregational 
Church of Middlebury, Ct., where he died September 
23d, 1871. 

During Mr. Clark's ministry in Ridgefield, one hun- 
dred and fifteen persons united with the church, of 
whom seventy-six were by profession. In considera- 
tion of his long-continued services, the church, by reso- 
lution, extended to him " our most grateful acknowl- 
edgment and heartfelt thanks for all his labors among 
us, and that it is with deep regret that we part with 
one who has so long and faithfully discharged his duty 
to us in all the ministerial relations." 



I02 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Mr. Clark was a graduate of Amherst College. He 
was a man of sound mind and fervent piety. He is 
buried in the cemetery at Ridgefield, in the midst of 
the people whom he so faithfully served. 

After the dismission of Mr. Clark, the pulpit was 
supplied by various clergymen until the fall of 1865, 
when the Rev. Samuel G. Coe, then recently dismissed 
from the First Congregational Church in Danbury, 
Ct., removed to Ridgefield as a place of residence. 

He was invited to supply the pulpit, and soon after 
received a unanimous call to settle. He, however, pre- 
ferred to labor with them without being formally in- 
stalled. His wishes in this respect were acceded to, 
and he continued to serve the church until the au- 
tumn of 1868, when failing health induced him to 
give up active pastoral work. 

Mr. Coe was a graduate of Yale College, of Yale 
Law School and of Yale Theological Seminary. He 
was a clear thinker and an earnest and eloquent 
preacher. 

He died on the 7th of December, 1869, universally 
lamented. 

The Rev. Pliny S. Boyd was called by the church and 
society to settle. He accepted the call, and was in- 
stalled May nth, 1869. Mr. Boyd was dismissed July 
1st, 1 87 1, and soon after was settled over the Congre- 
gational Church of Amesbury, Mass. 

The church was supplied with regular preaching by 
various clergyinen, until February ist, 1872, when the 
Rev. Daniel W. Teller was called to become the acting 
pastor of the church by unanimous vote. 

Three years later, Mr. Teller was invited to be for- 
mally settled over the church, but preferred serving as 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 103 

he had already done as acting pastor. He is still serv- 
ing the church in that capacity. The church at pres- 
ent has two hundred and twenty-five members : males, 
eighty-three ; females, one hundred and forty-two. 

The first house used for religious meetings by the 
Congregationalists was a small building standing 
nearly in front of the residence of Miss Mary Hawley. 
It was used also as a school-house, and as a place 
at which to transact town business, previous to the 
erection of the town-house. 

On the 19th of December, 1723, the following vote 
was passed in town meeting : 

" Voted unanimously that a meeting house shall be 
built. 

" Test. TiioMAb-' Hawley, 

Register. 

" At the meeting above said, it was voted unani- 
mously that the magnitude and proportion of the 
Meeting-house above said shall be thirty-four feet wide ; 
on the ground forty feet long, and twenty-eight feet 
between the sill and the plate. 

"Test. Thomas Hawley, 

' ' Register. 

This house stood immediately east of the present 
building or where the road now passes it. 

In the year 1765, the building of the present house 
began for the first to be seriously considered, as will ap- 
pear from the following minutes : 

" Dec 25*'' 1765. Adjourned to Jany i^*^ 1766. 
The Meeting Resolved (5-6^'') to Build a New Meeting 
House within y® Limits of this Society ; & appointed 
W. L ; S. O ; B. S ; S S ; & I I. a comf^*^ to apply 
to y^ County Court to fix a place & granted a one penny 
Tax to defray y"" Charge of fixing y*^ place." 



1 04 HIS TOR V OF RIDGEFIELD. 

" Dec 25"' 1767. Question put would y*^ Society 
Build a Meeting at y'' place fixed by y^ County 
Comt''"^ ? Resolved in y'' neg ; by a great majority 
— Question put would they Build in y'' Meeting House 
yard. Resolved in y'' aff. by more than 2 to i." 

" Dec 19"' 1769. Voted that y'' County Comt'"'' be 
called out to fix a place to build a Meeting house on." 

" Jany 16''' 1770. Question put, are y'' meeting 
willing y*^ stake set in y" yard be established. Voted 
in y'' aff. 36 to 30." 

" Sept 24"' 1770. Voted that y" old meeting-house 
may be repaired by subscription." 

"May I"* 1771. Voted to build a House 58 feet 
long & 40 feet broad, & 24 feet posts & a steeple, — 
Also Sam'. Smith Esq Samuel Olmsted Esq & Jn° 
Benedict were chosen a Comt''' to take y'' care of & 
proceed in Building s'' House during y'' pleasure of 
y*^ Society" — ^Also granted a Tax of 6*^ on y'^ £ on 
y* List 1770 to enable said Comf'' to proceed in 
building s'' house — Also that y" Roof of y*^ House & 
Steeple be covered with cedar & y'" sides with sawed 
Siding." 

" June 3'' 1 77 1. Voted that if ^50 be subscribed by 
ye J St Qf July next, then the Comt'^'" to build a steeple, 
if not to drop it." 

"Aug* 20"' 1 77 1. Voted to Raise y'' House Gratis — 
if cant be done to hire help. Also that they will con- 
tinue y*^ Comf^*^ already appointed to proceed in 
building y^ House. Also voted that y*" House be set 
in y^ yard, provided the County Court will establish a 
place there." 

"Sept 19"' 1771. Question, Shall the Timber be 
raised within five feet west of y*^ old house & shall not 
y'' Tax of 6'' be revoked ? Passed in y^ aff." 

" Dec 18*'' 1783. Benj" Smith & Capt David Olm- 
sted were chosen Committee men in addition to y* 
Comt''' chosen in May 1771 to superintend y*" Build- 
ing of the Meeting House in said Society." 

The house was not completed until the early part of 



CONGREGA TIONAL CHURCH. 



105 



the year 1800. Then it was seated in the following 
manner and the seats occupied as indicated : 



Pulpit 



Deacons 











IS 




29 


28 




30 


27 






16 




31 


26 

















22 23 


31 


24 


20 


25 







No. I No. 2 



No. 3 



A draught of the Pews, Seats & Ailes on y'^ ground 
floor of the Meeting House in y'' first Society Num- 
bered with the names of the original Proprietors, & the 
present owners, March y*^ 22'' A.D. 1800. 



No. I. Phillip B Bradley 
" 2. Thomas Hawley 

Nathan Smith 
" 3. James Reseguie 
Seth Bouton 
Ambrose Barnes 
" 4. Eben Olmsted 



James Olmsted 
J ere'' Mead 
Matthew Olmsted 
No. 5. Dan' Smith 
Tho^ Hyatt 
Benj" Sherwood 
" 6. Thad^ Keeler 



io6 



HISTORY OF RIDGFFIELD. 



J ere'' Keeler 
Benj" Keeler 
No. 7. Stephen Smith 

" 8. Eben Hawley 
Elisha Hawley 

" 9 Tim° Keeler 

Nathan Dauchey 

" 12. Bradly Hull 
Jere"" Keeler 
Ward Sturgis 

" 13. David Scott 

James Scott 2^ 
Jere Scott 

" 14. Dan' Lee 

Wakeman Burrett 
Nehemiah Banks 

" 15. Sam' Hoyt 

Josiah Northrop 
NathanielSeymour 

" 16. Uriah Marvin 

, Dan' Olmsted 2'' 
Timothy Bouton 

" 17. Levi Keeler 
John Keeler 
Jere'' Seymour 
Paul Keeler 

" 18. Dea" Jn° Benedict 
& family 



No. 19. Benj" Smith 

Amos Baker 

" 20. Amos Smith 

Josiah Smith 

Thad« Smith 

21. Jasper Mead 
Matthew Keeler 
Jonah Keeler 

22. Thad" Keeler 
Dr N Perry 

■ 24. Joshua King 
Moss Ingersol 

' 25. Sam' Olmsted 
Jared Olmsted 
Newton Hine 

' 26. Nathan F Kellogg 
James Sturgis 
Jacob Jones 

' 27. David Olmsted 

Timothy Olmsted 
Benj" Sanford 

' 30. Matthew Seymour 
Thomas Scott 
Jared Northrop 
Daniel Smith 2^ 

' 31. John Waterous 
Joseph Benedict 



CONGREGA TIONAL CHURCH. 



107 



18 






i 




e 






No. 1 
























17 






I 




3 






■z 








n 




jO 








16 






0. 










3 










«j 


























IS 






3 

c 




V 


i 




4 

1 








p 

a 




B 









H 










Ex. 






S 


Ye front seat reserved for the musicians. 






2 seat front. 




13 












6 






Aile. 












- 


- 





•0 


» 


^ 









A Plan of the Pews, Seats & Ailes in the Gallorys 
in the Meeting House, in the first Society with the 
names of the original pewholders & present Proprie- 
tors, March 22'^ A.D. 1800. 



Pew. 



Name. 



No. 2. Levi Keeler 

Hezekiah Smith 
4. Stephen Mills 
" 6. Michael Warren 

Jabez Keeler 
" 7. Dan' Lee 

Wakeman Burret 
" 8. Nathan Smith 
David Olmsted 



Pew. Name. 

Millicent Smith 
N G Smith 
Thomas Hawley 
No. 9. John Benedict 
Jared Olmsted 
Dan' Smith 
Job Smith 
" 10. Tim'- Keeler 
Benj" Smith 



io8 



HISTOR Y OF RIDGEFIELD. 



Pew. Name. 

Amos Baker 
No. II. P B Bradley 
Col King 

" 12. Matthew Keeler 
Jonah Keeler 
Jasper Mead 
Jesse Benedict 

" 14. Tho Hyatt 
John Mills 



Pew. Name. 

No. 15. Moss IngersoU 
Joseph Stebbins 
" 16. Samuel Dykeman 
" 17. David Saintjohn 
Jonoth" Gilbert 
Sam^ Hoyt 2'' 
" 18. Elisha Hawley 
Eben Hawley 
John Waterous 



" The foregoing draughts were made by us the Sub- 
scribers being appointed a Committee for the purpose 
this 22'' day of March. A.D. 1800 

Benjm Smith \ 

Timothy Keeler v Committee.'' 

Nathan Smith ) 

The following will indicate how these seats were 
bought and sold : 

" RiDGEFiELD Jany i*', A.D. 1801 

" Be it known that I Nathan F Kellogg do for the 
consideration of Two Dollars & Fifty Cents Rec'' of 
Eanos Tuttle, Sell, convey & convert unto him the s*^ 
Tuttle one Twelfth part of my Pew on the lower Flour 
in the Meeting House No 26 

Nathan F Kellogg 
Test Nathan Smith, Clerk." 

" Know all by these presents that I David Olmsted 
of Ridgefield for the consideration of Three Dollars 
Received of Thomas H. Rockwell of s'' Ridgefield to 
my full Satisfaction do Quit Claim to him the s'^ 
Thomas all my Right title & Interest I have in a pew 
in the Galery of the Meeting House in s'' Ridegfield 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. lOQ 

No 8 witness my hand this 27"' day of May A.D. 
1800 

Witness Jasper Mead David Olmsted 

John Keeler. 
Test Nathan Smith Society Clerk.'' 

' ' To all People to whom these presents shall come 
Greeting. Know ye that we Timothy Keeler. Timo- 
thy Olmsted. & Jonathan Keeler. Society's Comt'"' for 
the first Society in Ridgefield in Fairfield County (do 
agreeable to the direction of s'' society) for Selling the 
Pews in the Gallery of the Meeting House, do by these 
Presents Give. Grant. Bargain & Sell Thaddeus 
Keeler & Jeremiah Mead of s'^ Ridgefield the South 
East corner Pew on the South end of the Gallery in 
Said Meeting House for the consideration of Nine 
Dollars & Eighty Four Cents, to have & to hold the 
above Granted & Bargained Premises as their own for- 
ever as witness our hand in Ridgefield this 4''' day of 
December A.D. 1801 

Timothy Keeler ) 

Timothy Olmsted ■- Sodetjs Cojut'". 

JoNATHEN Keeler ) 

Test Nathan Smith 

Society's Clerk.'' 

The steeple at first erected above the church was ob- 
served, after a few years, to be leaning toward the main 
building. In the year 181 5 the following call for a So- 
ciety's meeting was issued : 

Notice is hereby given that a meeting of the Pres- 
byterian Society in the first Society in Ridgefield will 
be holden at the Meeting House on the 13"' day of Oct 
at I Oclock in the P.M. for the purpose of taking 
into consideration the expediency of taking down the 
6 



I I 2 HI ST OR Y OF RIDGEFIELD. 

The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was adminis- 
tered on this occasion. The services were solemn, and 
were rendered peculiarly interesting by the presence of 
the Rev. and venerable Samuel Goodrich, the former 
beloved pastor of the church, who was providentially 
present, and assisted in the services. 

In the summer of 1841 the exterior of the edifice 
was thoroughly repaired and several important ad- 
ditions and alterations were made. Subsequently a 
new bell, a new pulpit and its surroundings, and an 
organ have added their attractions to this more than 
centenary building, still a work of strength, and giving 
promise of a long future as a sanctuary of the Most 
Hieh. 




STEPHENS CHUKCH 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. 

" Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where 
thine honor dwelleth." — Ps. 26 : 8. 

"Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for- 
ever?" — Zcfh. 1:5. 

The foundation of the Episcopal Church in Ridge- 
field was laid by the Rev. Samuel Johnson of Strat- 
ford, the first clergyman of the Church in Connecticut, 
who preached here occasionally for several years, and 
was instrumental in bringing several families into the 
Church. He began his services here about 1725. He 
was succeeded by the two brothers, Henry Caner, of 
Fairfield, and Richard Caner, of Norwalk ; also by the 
Rev. John Beach, of Newtown, and Rev. James Wet- 
more, of Rye, until about the year 1744. 

In the year 1728 the Rev. Henry Caner reported 
several small parishes, or missionary stations, beyond 
the bounds of his proper care, one of which was 
Ridgefield, with twelve families. 

The Rev. John Beach, missionary at Newtown, re- 
ported to the Society in London, " that he often ofifi- 
ciated and administered the sacraments in Ridgefield, 
distant from his residence about eighteen miles, 
where, in 1735, there were nearly twenty families of 
very serious and religious people, who had a just es- 
teem of the Church of England, and desired to have 
the opportunity of worshipping God in that way." 



I 14 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

The Rev. Joseph Lamson, assistant to the Rev. 
James Wetmore, of Rye, officiated at Ridgefield in 
1744, in connection with Bedford and North Castle, 
until his removal to Fairfield, in 1747, where he still 
continued to serve the Church in Ridgefield, as far as 
can be ascertained, until 1762. He was succeeded by 
the Rev. Richard S. Clark, of Salem, about 1764, who 
held services in connection with Salem and Ridgebury. 

In the year 1768 the Rev. Epenetus Townsend took 
the charge of services in Ridgefield, in connection with 
Salem and Ridgebury, and so continued until 1776, 
when, after the Declaration of Independence, he left 
and was appointed chaplain to one of the loyal batta- 
lions then stationed in New York, and in 1779 the 
battalion was ordered to Halifax, Nova Scotia. He 
embarked from New York with his wife and five chil- 
dren in one of the vessels. A severe storm arose soon 
after leaving New York, and the vessel in which he 
embarked was foundered in Boston Bay, and every 
soul on board perished. 

All of the clergy of the Church who ministered here 
previous to the American Revolution were mission- 
aries of the " Society (in England) for the Propagation 
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," and received annual 
stipend toward their maintenance. The Rev. Mr. 
Townsend, as well as other missionaries, received an 
annuity of twenty pounds sterling, in addition to the 
tax raised among his people for his support. 

As far as ascertained, an interval of about thirteen 
years passed by before the resumption of regular ser- 
vices by a clergyman of the Church. 

The following, among others, arc from the records of 
the town of Ridgefield : 



ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. \ I 5 

March 29. 1738. Received of the Members of the 
Church of England in Ridgefield, the whole of their 
Ministerial Taxes for the year 1737. 

" Received per me, JOHN BEACH Missionary. 

" A true copy of original Receipt, 

Timothy Keeler, Register. 

" Recorded April 3, 1738." 



" NoRWALK, March 17, 1742-3. 
To Mr. John Smith, Collector at Ridgefield. 

"Sir. Please to cross Messrs. Benjamin Bradley, 
Jonathan Brooks, Robert Faquer, Samuel Lobdell, 
Caleb Lobdell, Ebenezer Lobdell, Jabez Northrop, 
Richard Osborn, Daniel Sherwood Sen''. Daniel 
Sherwood Jun''. David Osborn, Alexander Resse- 
guie, Isaac Resseguie, Jacob Resseguie, Nathan Sher- 
wood, Robert Smith, John Whitlock, Abraham Whit- 
lock, and Nathan Whitlock's names out of your book 
for collecting Minister's rates ; and place their dues to 
account of — 

" Your humble servant, 

Richard Caner, Missionary. 
" Recorded Oct. 24, 1744 per me — 

Timothy Keeler, Register." 

"March 15, 1744. Mr. Samuel Smith. 
" Sir. Please to pay the Ministerial Rate which you 
have collected of the Professors of the Church of Eng- 
land in Ridgefield, to Mr Joseph Lamson ; and his 
Receipt shall be your discharge, from Sir, 
" Your humble servants, 

Henry Caner Missionary. 
Richard Caner Missionary. 

" Received to Record, 

" Dec. 24, 1744, and Recorded per me — 

Timothy Keeler, Register." 



Il6 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

" Ridgefield, April 14, 1744. Then received of Sam- 
uel Smith Collector of the Ministerial Rate for the 
Town of Ridgefield for the year 1744, the sum of forty 
Pounds, eleven Shillings and eleven Pence of the old 
tenor, in full of the Episcopal parties' Rates in said 
Ridgefield, 
£\o. 1 1 . 1 1 . Received per me, 

Joseph Lamson. 

" Received to Record December 24, 1744, and Re- 
corded per me. Timothy Keeler, Register." 

The Rev. David Perry was the first settled minister 
of the Church after the Revolution, and entered upon 
his charge in September, 1789, having been ordained 
by Bishop Seabury, September 22d, 1789, to deacon's 
orders ; and to priest's orders on the i6th of October 
following : 

The following is copied from the church records : 

" At a meeting of the First Episcopal Society holden 
at the Town House in Ridgefield by adjournment on 
the first Monday in August, 1789, 

" Voted, That Doct. David Perry receive Holy Orders 
for this Society." 

The first church edifice erected here for Episcopal 
worship was about 1740, upon a spot in the Town 
Street, which was granted by the proprietors of the 
town, at a meeting held January 4th, 1739, ^"*^ ^^^s 
situated directly in front of what was called the Stur- 
tevant lot, and bounded within three feet of said lot ; 
the space granted was thirty-six feet north and south, 
and twenty-six feet east and west ; its location being 
a little south of the present church lot. 



ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. I I J 

The following article, in reference to the grant, is 
from the Ridgeficld town records : 

" Whereas, at a Proprietor's Meeting January 4*'' 
1740, did by a major vote, order and empower us the 
subscribers, to view and look a spot or place of ground 
that may be convenient and suitable to build and erect 
a Church or Meeting House, for those that are of the 
profession of the Church of England ; and also to 
agree with, and confirm unto them the said spot or 
piece of land so agreed upon ; in pursuance to, and 
by virtue of said vote, we have set out, and do agree 
with the said professors, that they shall have liberty of 
a certain spot of land in said Town Street, on the 
front of that home lot that was formerly John Sturte- 
vant's deceased ; the west sill bounded within three 
feet of the line or front of said lot ; which said spot or 
piece of ground is to be in extent, thirty-six feet 
north and south ; and east and west, twenty-six feet. 
Richard Olmsted ) 
Matthew Seamore ^- Comuiittee 
Timothy Keeler \ 

" Received to Record, Jany. 10, 1746, and recorded 
per me — TiMOTHY Keeler, Register." 



This building remained until after the Revolutionary 
War. During the war it was taken by a commissary 
of the American army as a building in which to de- 
posit the public stores. In April, 1777, the building 
was set on fire by the British forces in their retreat 
from Danbury. Though not consumed, it was ren- 
dered unfit for use as a place of public worship. 

In June, 1784, at a meeting of those friendly to the 
Church of England, it was deemed advisable to tear 
down the old buildinir and build a new one. 



Il8 HISl^ORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

The following is the notice for said meeting : 

" To Alexander RESSEGUiE^j/T^/V/j^'^yfr^/ in Fairfield 
County, Greeting. 

" By authority of the State of Connecticut ; you are 
hereby required to notify and warn all the inhabitants 
living within the limits of the First Society in Ridge- 
field, that are professors of the Church of England, to 
meet and hold a Society meeting at the Church in said 
Society, on the 28"' day of instant, June, at 3 o'clock 
after noon, (it being the place of worship for said pro- 
fessors,) for the purpose of choosing Society officers, 
repairing the church, hiring some person to perform 
Divine Service in said Episcopal Society, granting a 
tax for these purposes, and any other business proper 
for said meeting to do or act. By order of us — 

Philip B. V>^K\i\.YN Justice of Peace. 
Ebenezer Lobdell ) n ■ -^ 1 
David Perry ' Prmctpal 

Alexander Resseguie ) I^^f^^'^^^^^^^t^- 

" RiDGEP^iELD, June 19, 1784." 

The meeting was held according to notice, and it 
was voted not to repair the old church, to hire a per- 
son to perform divine service for four months, and to 
pay ten pounds by way of tax on the list of the year 
1783, for the purpose of paying for this and other So- 
ciety charges. 

At a meeting held on the 28th day of October, 1784, 
it was voted to pull down the old church, and build a 
new one, forty feet long, thirty feet wide, and eighteen 
feet posts, a little south of the old one, and on the 
ground formerly granted by the town for that purpose. 

" Voted, To pay a tax of one shilling on the pound 
on the list of the year 1784, by the first day of April, 
1785, for the purpose of erecting a new church. 



ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. II9 

" Voted, That Benjamin Hoyt, Ezekiel Wilson, 
Thaddeus Sturges, and Jonathan Whitlock be a com- 
mittee to conduct the pulling down and disposing 
of the old church, and to manage and carry on the 
building of a new one." 

In the mean time Lieutenant Benjamin Smith dona- 
ted a piece of ground on which to erect a new church ; 
the deed to which was executed in the year follow- 
ing, and bearing date September 20th, 1785. The 
plot thus deeded was on the north-east corner of his 
homestead, adjoining the Town Street, and which 
now comprises the yard in front of the present church. 
The ground in size was seventy-three feet in length 
north and south, and forty-three feet wide east and 
west, and bounded east by the Town Street, north by 
Nathan Dauchy's land, and south and west by his 
own land. The conditions were that it should be for- 
ever appropriated to the use of said church. 

At a meeting held at the house of Captain Vivus 
Dauchy, on the i6th day of December, 1784, it was 

" Voted, To reconsider the appointment of the Com- 
mittee made at the meeting held on the 28*'' day of 
October ; and that Benjamin Hoyt and Ezekiel Wilson 
constitute the Committee to carry on the building of 
said church. 

" Voted, That the said building shall stand at the 
north east corner of the Sturtevant lot so called, ad- 
joining the Town Street, in the First Society in Ridge- 
field, on a piece of ground given by Benjamin Smith 
for that purpose. 

" Voted, That the church shall not exceed forty-two 
feet in length ; and that the width and height be in pro- 
portion, according to the judgment of the Committee." 

The church was subsequently erected on said land, 



I20 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

and the size adopted was forty-four feet in length, and 
thirty-two feet in width, the ends facing north and 
south, with a door on the south and east sides, but 
without a steeple. A gallery was placed in the south 
end of the church. 

The project of building' immediately following the 
Revolutionary War, when the effort in raising means 
was difficult, from the impoverishment of the people 
generally in consequence of the war, it was not with- 
out struggles, financially and otherwise, that the pro- 
cess of rebuilding was carried forward, and that by slow 
degrees through a series of years, until it was finally 
accomplished, for the resources of the parish were lim- 
ited. 

The following are extracts from the parish record at 
that time : 

"At a meeting of the First Episcopal Society in 
Ridgefield, holden at the house of Capt. Vivus 
Dauchy on the first day of Sept. 1785, 

" Voted, That Ebenezer Stebbins be a committee, in 
addition to Benjamin Hoyt, and Ezekiel Wilson, ap- 
pointed at a former meeting, to manage the building of 
a Church. 

" Voted, likewise. That all persons who have under- 
taken to get timber for a church, shall have it at the 
place appointed, by Thursday the 8"' inst. Septem- 
ber ; or the Committee shall not be obliged to accept 
it in payment of taxes." 

At a meeting of the Society, held at the house of 
Capt. Vivus Dauchy, April 27th, 1787 : 

*' Voted, That said Society shall pay a tax of two 
pence on the Pound on the List of 1786, into the 



ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. 121 

Treasury of sard Society by first day of October next, 
for the purpose of carrying on the building a Church. 

" Item, That any person who shall furnish good 
eighteen inch chestnut shingle for the Church, shall be 
allowed one Pound, four shillings per thousand. That 
good whitewood inch Boards, shall be valued at six shil- 
lings per hundred foot ; three quarter-inch Oak Boards 
at four shillings and six pence per hundred foot. 

" Item, That the aforesaid articles shall be delivered 
at the church in said Ridgefield by the first day of 
June next ; otherwise, the Committee shall not be 
obliged to take them in payment of taxes towards the 
building a church." 

At a meeting held at the house of Captain Vivus 
Dauchy, on the 31st day of September, 1787 : 

" Voted, That the Society shall pay a tax of four 
Pence on the Pound, on the List of the year 1787, by 
the first day of April next. 

" Voted, That Rye at three shillings and six pence 
per bushel ; Corn at three shillings ; Oats at one shilling 
and six pence ; Buckwheat at two shillings per bushel ; 
Flax at seven Pence per pound, shall be taken in pay- 
ment of said tax." 

The church was not comfortably furnished until the 
year 1791, and the entire ground floor was not occu- 
pied with pews until some time after the church was 
used for divine service ; and at a meeting held March 
30th, 1791, it was " voted," That we will sell the lots 
for the pews in the church, and also voted, That they 
shall be sold at public vendue to the highest bidder. 
It was voted, also, " That the committee appointed to 
carry on the finishing of the church, shall lay out the 
lots for the pews in the same, and advertise and sell 
them as before directed, when and at what time they 



122 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

think proper. Benjamin Hoyt and Joshua Burt were 
said committee." 

At a meeting held April 17th, 1794, a committee 
was appointed to superintend the building of a pul- 
pit in the church. 

At a meeting held April 17th, 1799, it was 

" Voted, That the Society's Committee be directed 
to procure materials, and build the remaining pews in 
the church, and charge the same to the Society." 

In the year 18 19 the church was materially altered 
and improved, side galleries were built, and a steeple 
erected on the south end, in style and form the same 
as the one at the Congregational Church. The door 
at the east side was closed, and in its place a square 
pew was built and occupied by Abijah Resseguie and 
others ; he then being in manhood's prime, and al- 
though nearly sixty years have rolled away, he still 
continues in a vigorous old age an honored citizen 
among us, and also continues to hold, as in years past, 
the office of one of the Wardens of the church. 

In the year 1820 an effort was made by the parish 
to obtain some remuneration for the damage done to 
the former church edifice during the Revolutionary 
War. The following is from the parish records : 

At a meeting held on the 24th day of April, 1820, 
it was, 

" Voted, That Mr. Jeremiah Mead be an agent for the 
purpose of preferring a petition in behalf of this parish 
to the Honorable General Assembly of the State of 
Connecticut, at their session in May next, praying for 
a remuneration of damages sustained in consequence of 
the injury done to the former church belonging to the 
parish, by being used as a store house for provisions by 



ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. I 23 

the Commissary, in the time of the Revokitionary War ; 
and that said Agent be empowered and instructed to 
employ counsel to advocate said petition." 

The application, however, proved unsuccessful, and 
no compensation was ever obtained to cover the loss 
sustained in consequence of the firing of the church by 
the British. 

In the year 1828 a bell was procured of six hundred 
pounds weight, and placed in the tower of the church, 
the first one owned by the parish. 

The church edifice never having been consecrated, on 
the 1 2th day of November, 1831, the Right Rev. Bishop 
Brownell visited the parish and consecrated it by the 
name of St. Stephen's Church, and at the same time 
administered the rite of confirmation to fifty-two per- 
sons — a large number for this parish. It was a yeai: of 
great religious interest in the church, and sixty new 
communicants were added in the course of the year, 
under the successful ministry of the Rev. Charles J. 
Todd. 

In the year 1832 the square pews in the centre of 
the church were removed, and " slips," or long pens, 
erected in their stead ; the square pews on each side 
still remaining. 

On the 29th day of January, 1841, a meeting was 
held, and measures taken for the erection of a new 
church, provided a suitable site could be procured. A 
plot of ground directly in the rear of the church lot 
was generously donated by Isaac Jones, the owner of 
the land adjoining, in size one hundred feet east and 
west, and eighty-two to eighty-six feet north and 
south, the deed bearing date August 12th, 1841. Mr. 
Jones had previously given a strip of ground ten feet 



124 HISTORY OF KIDGEFIELD. 

wide at the south end of the old church lot. The 
corner-stone of the present church was laid by the Rec- 
tor, the Rev. Warner Hoyt, in the presence of a num- 
ber of the clergy and of the inhabitants, on the I2th 
day of August, 1841. The church was finished and 
consecrated by Bishop BrowncU on the 20th day of 
September, 1842. The organ, the first one in posses- 
sion of the parish, was placed in the church and first used 
at its consecration. 

Thus was completed and consecrated the third 
church in this parish, a little over a century after the 
erection of the first church edifice. Its dimensions are 
forty feet in width and lifty-six feet in length, with 
a projection in front for a vestibule and stairway of 
five feet, and with the addition afterward of a chancel 
of a depth of fifteen feet, making the entire present 
length of the church seventy-six feet. 

Tablets were also placed in the walls of the church 
in commemoration of two venerable laymen of the 
parish, one to Samuel Stebbins, Esq., the other to 
Nathan Dauchy, both firm and zealous supporters of 
the church, in all its vicissitudes — the former a dis- 
tinguished and useful citizen of the town, as well as of 
the parish ; for forty years the town clerk, and during 
a period of forty-six years the parish clerk, and for 
over forty years the senior warden of the church. 

In the month of August, 185 1, the bell now in use, 
and weighing 1508 pounds, from the foundry of Me- 
neely & Sons, of West Troy, N. Y., was placed in the 
tower of the church; the old one having been disposed 
of to a neighboring church in Georgetown. 

In the year 1857 measures were taken for an exten- 
sive alteration and improvement in the church, the 



Sr. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. I 25 

building of a chancel, alteration of the pews, and to be 
so arranged as to admit of a centre aisle, coloring and 
frescoing the walls, the procuring of a new organ from 
the manufactory of George Jardine, of New York, of a 
sweet tone and finish, all of which improvements being 
at an expense of about two thousand dollars. The 
church was reopened with appropriate services by the 
Right Rev. Bishop Williams, assisted by a number of 
the neighboring clergy, including former rectors of the 
parish. 

In the summer of 1875 the organ was enlarged by 
the addition of several stops, and 126 new pipes, mak- 
ing the present number of 16 stops and 450 pipes ; the 
addition nearly doubling its capacity. 

The parish has a fund of a little over three thousand 
dollars, the income of which is devoted toward the 
support of the ministry. 

The first efforts made toward the creation of a fund 
for the support of the ministry in the parish was in 
1836, when Nathan Dauchy, Esq., of Troy, N. Y, , a 
native of this town, made an offer for that purpose on 
condition that the parish would raise a like amount. 
In order to avail themselves of his generous offer, they 
used persevering exertions, and raised the sum of 
twelve hundred dollars, to which he added a like 
amount. This, with later benefactions, from other 
sources, increased the fund to its present amount, 
three thousand and fifty dollars. 

In the year 1869 a legacy was received by the be- 
quest of the late Nancy Smith, of Norwalk, formerly 
of Ridgefield, of five hundred dollars, the income of 
which to be used in aid of the poor of the parish. 

It is also possessed of a convenient parsonage, built 



126 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

in 1853, with a glebe of four acres, in the central part 
of the village, of a valuation of about six thousand dol- 
lars. 

The first building erected for a parsonage was in 
1838, upon a piece of ground containing one acre, ap- 
propriated by the late Philip Bradley, in the northern 
part of the village street, and which, with improve- 
ments, is now the residence of Gould Rockwell. It 
was built by a stock company, and occupied by the 
clergy until it was afterward sold, and the present 
one erected more contiguous to the church. 

The first wardens of the church, of which there is 
any existing record, that of 1788, were Benjamin Hoyt 
and Doctor David Perry. Doctor Perry was also the 
clerk and treasurer of the parish from the commence- 
ment of its permanent record in 1784 until his admis- 
sion to holy orders in 1789. 

The present wardens of the church are Keeler, 
Dauchy, and Abijah Resseguie, who have served the 
church in that capacity for a series of years — Mr, 
Dauchy having served the church as a vestryman, 
parish clerk, and in his present ofifice for nearly half a 
century. During a period of thirty-three years he has 
been a warden of the church. 

The likenesses of nearly all the rectors of the present 
century are placed on the walls in the vestry room. 
On the left hand of the chancel is placed a memorial 
window to the Rev. Warner Hoyt, under whose zeal- 
ous rectorship the present church was built, and who 
is the only one of its clergy thus far who have been re- 
moved by death while in charge of the duties of the 
parish. 

Among the many persons not heretofore named. 



ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. 12 J 

with two or three exceptions, as among the early and 
prominent supporters of the church, who have passed 
away, may be named the following : Caleb Lobdell, 
Vivus Dauchy, Jacob Resseguie, Ezekiel Wilson, John 
Jones, Ebenezer Stebbins, Hackaliah Burt, Eliphalet 
Brush, Nehemiah Sturges, Epenetus How, Jeremiah 
Smith, Jacob Dauchy, Benjamin Sherwood, Benjamin 
Smith, Jeremiah Mead, Daniel Jones, Timothy Jones, 
Isaac Olmsted, Thaddeus Olmsted, David Burr, Sam- 
uel B. Grumman, Czar Jones, John M. Smith, Philip 
Northrup, William Sherwood, Stephen Olmsted, Wal- 
ter Dauchy, Chauncey Olmsted, William Crocker, and 
others. Of the above, Jacob Dauchy served as a war- 
den of the church twenty-three years, and John M. 
Smith for a period of twenty-seven years. 

The first instance in which the rite of confirmation 
was administered was in 1809, when Bishop Abraham 
Jarvis visited the parish, and confirmed 86 per- 
sons, and which with those confirmed on subsequent 
episcopal visitations, makes the entire number of 510 
persons confirmed in this church to the present time. 

The parish at the present time numbers 85 families, 
about 250 baptized members, and 140 communicants. 

The first year in the history of the parish in which it 
was enabled to avail itself of a resident clergyman with 
constant services was in 1837, under the rectorship of 
the Rev. Eli Wheeler, who remained until 1839, when 
he was succeeded by the Rev. Warner Hoyt, who en- 
tered upon the regular charge of the parish, and Avas 
the first occupant of its first parsonage, just erected, and 
the parish has been favored with the undivided services 
of all succeeding clergymen to the present time. 

The ministrations of all the preceding clergy, from 



128 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

the year 1789, when the Rev. David Perry assumed 
the charge of the parish, until the year 1837, were 
in connection with other parishes. The Rev. David 
Perry served the churches in Ridgebury and Danbury 
a portion of the time. His successors — the Rev. David 
Butler, the Rev. Elijah G. Plumb, and the Rev. Reu- 
ben Hubbard — each had charge of the three churches 
of Ridgefield, Danbury, and Reading, giving an equal 
time to each. 

The Rev. Charles Smith, the Rev. Origen P. Hol- 
comb, and the Rev. Charles J. Todd, each had charge 
of the churches in Wilton and Ridgefield, residing in 
Wilton, and devoting two thirds of the time to Wil- 
ton and one third to Ridgefield. The Rev. Jacob Ly- 
man Clark took the charge of the church in Ridge- 
field, in connection with that of New Canaan, minis- 
tering one half of the time in each until 1837, and re- 
siding in New Canaan, when he accepted a call to the 
church in Waterbury, Ct., and which brings us to the 
period when constant services were secured to the par- 
ish, under the Rev. Eli Wheeler, as before mentioned. 

Connected with the foregoing history of the church 
in Ridgefield arises the reflection that during the cen- 
tury and a half which has transpired, since the first 
introduction of the services of the Church here — a pe- 
riod embracing about five generations of those who 
have in succession attended on her ministrations — that 
we, too, are rapidly following the generations that are 
numbered with the congregation of the dead ; a num- 
ber far greater than those who compose the present 
congregation of the living, and who are still favored 
with the privilege of entering her sacred courts, and 
listening to the calls of the Gospel, as uttered from the 



ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. \2() 

lips of those, her ministers, appointed to proclaim 
the glad tidings of salvation. " So teach us to num- 
ber our days that we may apply our hearts unto wis- 
dom." 

The following are the inscriptions upon tablets in the 
church: 



THIS TABLET 

is erected by the Vestry, 

in memory of 

NATHAN DAUCHY, 

a zealous friend and supporter 

of this Church. 

He died April 14, 1824, 

in the glorious hope of a 

Blessed immortality. 



" Mark the perfect man,' and 
behold the upright, for the 
end of that man is peace." 



THIS TABLET 

is erected by the Vestry, 

in memory of 

SAMUEL STEBBINS, Esq., 

Senior Warden of this Church, 

From the year 1793, until his death. 

He died March 27, 1836, 

aged 73 years. 



130 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

His untiring activity, 

and Christian devotedness, 

in the cause of religion, and 

the prosperity of this 

Church ; are worthy 

of a grateful remembrance 

in the annals of 

this Parish, 



" Blessed are the dead who 
die in the Lord." 

The lettering on the tablets is all in capital letters. 



A SUCCESSION OF MINISTERS. 



Date of Entering ^ , 

Names °" ?^'^-°^ 

J^ames. Ministry. Leaving. 

Rev. Samuel Johnson, of Stratford 1725. 

Rev. Henry Caner, of Fairfield ^727. 

Rev. John Beach, of Newtown 1735- to 173S. 

Rev. James Wetmore, of Rye 1740. 

Rev. Richard Caner, of Norwalk 1742. 

Rev. Joseph Lamson, of Rye, with / 

■' 1" • ■ 1744- 

Bedford and North Castle. S 

Rev. Richard S. Clark, of Salem, with / ^„. , . ^^,_ 

... 1704. to 1707. 
Ridgefield and Ridgebury. ) 

Rev. Epenetus Townsend, of Salem, j j^j^^, ^^^ ^^^g j^,^^ ^^^^ 

with Ridgefield and Ridgebury. ' 

The above were missionaries of the " Society in England for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," previous to the 
Revolutionary War, who officiated at Ridgefield in connection with 
other stations or at intervals. 



ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. I 3 I 

Date of Entering j^ . r 

Names of Rectors. on P^^^. "^ 

Ministry. Leaving. 

Rev. David Belden .... 1788. for 4 months. 

Rev. David Perry Sept. 22, 1791. April 1,1795. 

Rev. David Butler Feb. 14, 1799. Oct. i, 1804. 

Rev. Russell Wheeler Sept. 15, 1805. May i, 1806. 

Rev. Elijah G. Plumb April 2,1807. April 11, iSii. 

Rev. Reuben Hubbard Jan. 15,1812. April, 1818. 

Rev. Charles Smith June 15, 1818. April, 1823. 

Rev. Origen P. Holcomb May 26,1823. Easter, 1831. 

Rev. Charles J. Todd May 15,1831. Sept., 1834. 

Rev. Jacob Lyman Clark Jul}' 20, 1835. Mar. 26, 1837. 

Rev. Eli Wheeler Aug. 1, 1837. Mar. 31, 1839. 

Rev. Joseph H. Nichols. . . . , April 28, 1839. June 30, 1839. 

Rev. Warner Hoyt July 6,1839. Oct. 18,1844, 

deceased. 

Rev. ThaddeusM. Leavenworth. .. . April 1,1845. Oct. 1,1845. 

Rev. David H. Short Dec. 1,1845. April 1,1846. 

Rev. Henry Olmsted, Jr April 13, 1846. April 20, 1850. 

Rev. William Staunton June 8, 1850. May 30, 1852. 

Rev. Theodores. Rumney August, 1853. Nov. 14, 1853. 

Rev. William H. Williams March i, 1854. Oct. 7,1863. 

Rev. Curtiss T. Woodruff. May r, 1864. May 10, 1866. 

Rev. Francis T. Russell June 3,1866. May 1,1868. 

Rev. Samuel F. Jarvis Aug. 2, 1S68. Aug. 3, 1873. 

Rev. David D. Bishop Oct. 1,1873. May 12,1878. 

Rev. Francis A. Henry Jul}' i, 187S. Present Rect'r 



CHAPTER IX. 

HISTORY OF METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The extensive relitjious revivals that preceded and 
followed the organization of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, at the Christmas Conference held in Baltimore, 
Md., A.D. 1784, prepared and raised up young men 
who became evangelists, and were sent by Rev. Francis 
Asbury, travelling Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, to various parts of the United States. 

As early as A.D. 1787, the Rev. Cornelius Cook 
preached in Ridgefield, and Ambrose Olmsted, Jr., 
received the following certificate : 

" To whom it may concern : These certify that Am- 
brose Olmsted, Jr., is a constant attendant at public 
worship (as opportunity offers) with the people called 
Methodists, and that he contributes his due proportion 
toward maintaining said worship & ministry. 

" Certified by me, CORNELIUS CooK, 

Minister of the M. E. Church. 
Nov. 16, A.D., 1787. 
Recorded Dec. ist, 1787, by Benjamin Smith, Congre- 
gational Society's Clerk." 

At the first Methodist Conference held in New York 
City, June, 1789, the Rev. Jesse Lee, from Virginia, 
was sent to the " Stamford Circuit," in New England. 

His first sermon was preached in Norwalk, on the 
highway, June 17th, 1789. He formed a two weeks' 
circuit, embracing Stamford, Norwalk, Fairfield, Strat- 







METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. I 33 

ford, Milford, Redding, Danbury, Ridgefield, and other 
intermediate places, and the name was changed to 
Fairfield Circuit. 

Mr. Lee preached his first sermon in Ridgefield 
probably on the 26th of June, 1789, in a building 
known as the " Independent School-house," situated 
near Mr. P. C. Lounsbury's house, formerly owned 
by Nehemiah Perry, M.D. 

On Thursday, January 28th, 1790, the first " Class" 
was formed in Ridgefield, being the third in New Eng- 
land, and was composed of Ichabod Wheeler and wife, 
and Daniel Keeler and wife, at Limestone, at the house 
of Ichabod Wheeler, near Taylor's Mill, and which 
continued to be a preaching place for some years. 

On the 27th of February, A.D. 1790, Elder Jacob 
Brush, and Revs. George Roberts and Daniel Smith, 
came from Maryland, to labor under direction of Mr. 
Lee, who extended his labors eastward to New Haven. 

The early records of the society being lost, it is im- 
possible to ascertain who were the early members of 
the Methodist Society in Ridgefield ; but we find in 
the records of the Congregational Society that cer- 
tificates similar to the one above quoted were issued 
by "Jesse Lee, Methodist preacher," to Jeremiah 
Olmsted, of Ridgebury, October 17th, 1789 ; also, April 
1st, 1790, by Rev. George Roberts, to Ichabod 
Wheeler ; December 24th, 1790, by Rev. John Blood- 
good, to Daniel Keeler ; March 30th, 1797, to Stephen 
Mills, Powell Batterson, and Jonathan Stevens. 

March 27, 1798, John Mills. 
Dec. 10, 1804, Thaddeus Benedict. 
Dec. 10, 1804, Joseph Mead, i^. 
7 



134 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Nov. 5, 1805, Sam'. Hoyt, 2^. 
Dec. 7, 1805, Abijah Hyatt. 
Mar. 3i^S 1806, Benjamin Bouton. 
Aug. 6, 1807, Martha Bouton. 
Nov. 23, 1807, Jabez M. Gilbert. 
Mar. 28, 1808, Dan'. Dean. 
Nov. 14, 1809, Amos Baker, M.D. 

For several years there was no preaching upon the 
Sabbath by the " circuit preachers ;" but this va- 
cancy was most acceptably filled by the frequent 
and voluntary labohs of Absalom Day, of Norwalk ; 
Aaron Sanford and Hawley Sandford, of Redding ; 
Rory Starr, of Danbury, " local (or lay) preachers," 
and James Coleman, " superannuated," of Ridgefield, 
whose name and labors have been handed down in 
grateful remembrance to the children of the fathers. 
" Classes" were formed in North Street in 1805, in 
the village in 1809, and from 1807 to 1826 the houses 
of Thos. Hyatt, Jabez M. Gilbert, and Amos Baker, 
M.D., were the regular preaching places of the 
" Methodist Itinerants." 

In 1824, the first church edifice was erected, standing 
in the fork of the roads leading to the districts called 
North Street and Titicus, and the " circuit" appears 
under the name of " Redding and Bridgeport." Fre- 
quent revivals of religious interest had occurred, spe- 
cially in the years 18 16, 1822, and 1828. 

In 1 83 1 a more extensive and powerful work was 
experienced, resulting in large additions to all the 
churches. Among the converts was Mr. William 
Crocker, who soon became a very acceptable and useful 
' ' local preacher. 



■ METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 135 

The following is a list of the Ministers, sent by the 
New York Conference to the circuits, embracing 
Ridgefield, from the year 1790 to 1836, at which date 
Ridgefield became a station, with a resident minister. 



Fairfield Circuit. 



1790 
1791 
1792 
1793 
1794 



John Bloodgood. 

Nathaniel Burton Mills, Aaron Hunt. 
Joshua Taylor, Smith Weeks. 
James Coleman, Aaron Hunt. 
Zebulon Kaukey, Nicholas Snethen. 



Redding Circuit. 



1795. Daniel Dennis, Timothy Dewey. 

1796. Elijah Woolsey, Robert Leeds. 

1797. David Buck, Augustus Jocelyn, 

1798. William Thatcher. 

1799. David Brown. 

1800. Augustus Jocelyn. 

1 801. Samuel Merwin, Isaac Candee. 

1802. James Coleman, Isaac Candee. 

1803. James Campbell, N. U. Tompkins. 

1804. Peter Moriarty, Sylvester Foster. 

1805. Peter Moriarty, Samuel Merwin. 

1806. Nathan Felch, Oliver Sykes. 

1807. James M. Smith, Zalmon Lyon. 

1808. Noble W. Thomas, Jonathan Lyon, 

New York Conference. 

1809. Billy Hibbard, Isaac Candee. 

1 8 10. Nathan Emory, John Russell. 

181 1. Aaron Hunt, Oliver Sykes, and John Reynolds. 

1 8 12. Seth Crowell, Gilbert Lyon, S, Beach. 

18 1 3. Aaron Hunt, Henry Eames. 

1 8 14. Ebenezer Washburn, Reuben Harris. 

1815. Elijah Woolsey, Reuben Harris. 

1816. Samuel Bushnel, John Boyd. 



I 36 HIS TOR Y OF RIDGEFIELD. 

18 1 7. Samuel Bushnel, Theodocidus Clarke. 

1 818. James M. Smith, Theodocius Clarke. 

1819. J. S. Smith, Phineas Cook. 

1820. Laban Clark, Phineas Cook. 

1 82 1. Laban Clark, Aaron Hunt. 

1822. Samuel Cochrane, Aaron Hunt. 

1823. Samuel Cochrane, John Reynolds. 

1824. Elijah Woolsey, John Reynolds, Aaron Hunt, 

Supe"". 
From 1825 to 1827 it was called 

Redding and Bridgeport Circuit. 

1825. Marvin Richardson, H. Humphreys, Frederic 

W. Siger, A, Hunt, Sup^ 

1826. Marvin Richardson, H. Humphreys, A. Hunt, 

Sup''., Oliver Sykes, Sup^ 

1827. Henry Stead, John Lovejoy, J. C. Bontecue, 

O. Sykes, Supe^ 

Redding Circuit, 

1828. Henry Stead, Gershom Pearce. 

1829. Ebenezer Washburn, Gershom Pearce. 

1830. Ebenezer Washburn, Oliver V. Ammerman. 

1 83 1. James Young, Josiah Bowen, O. Sykes, Sup''^', 

1832. Nicholas White, Jesse Hunt. 

1833. Jesse Hunt, John Burton Beach. 

1834. Josiah Bowen, John Burton Beach, 

Redding and Newtown Circuit. 

1835. Humphrey Humphreys, Josiah L. Dickerson, 

John Davies. 

In 1836, as above stated, Ridgefield was separated 
from other appointments, and became a "station," 
having Rev. Parmelee Chamberlain as its pastor, who 
remained two years, and at the close of his labors re- 



METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 137 

ported a membership of one hundred and eighteen, 
"probationers" included. 

In the year 1839 occurred the most extensive relig- 
ious awakening in the history of the church, under the 
ministry of Rev. Thos. Sparks. The curiosity of the 
community to hear the " experience of a converted 
sailor" — Rev. George C. Bancroft — drew large au- 
diences. 

But the relation of these " experiences" was accom- 
panied by such spiritual power, and enforced by such 
vivid declaration of divine truth, and the clear and 
logical arguments concerning the truths of the Gos- 
pel, as presented by Rev. Paul R. Brown, that many 
who came through curiosity were deeply convinced 
of the truth, resulting in the conversion of large num- 
bers and the increase of the membership of all the 
churches in the village. 

The large accession to the Methodist Church and 
congregation made it necessary to provide a larger 
place of worship. Accordingly, in the year 1841, the 
house now standing on the corner of Main and Catoo- 
nah Streets was erected during the pastorate of Rev. 
Chas. Chittenden. The humble beginnings of ninety 
years ago are represented to-day by a membership 
of nearly two hundred. 

Nor has the influence of this church been confined 
to this vicinity alone. Other towns, and the distant 
West, have heard the Gospel preached by the sons of 
those fathers and mothers. 

Revs. Stephen Remmington, Thos. B. Rockwell, 
Wm. Crocker, Albert Nash, Elias Gilbert, Alonzo B. 
Pulling, Miles N. Olmsted, and Frank W. Lockwood 
have been sent forth from her bosom, as chosen minis- 



138 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



ters of God ; while the plains of India have been hal- 
lowed by the self-sacrificing labors and early death of 
Mrs. S. Minerva Downey, daughter of Rev. Thos. B. 
Rockwell. 

The following list of names is of those ministers who 
have been stationed in Ridgefield from 1836 to 1878 : 



1836-37. 


Rev. Parmelee Chamberlain 


1838-39. 


" Thos. Sparks. 


1840. 


" Seymour Van Deusen, 


1841-42. 


" Cha^ Chittenden. 


1843-44. 


" Abram S. Francis. 


1845-46. 


" Charles Stearns. 


1847-48. 


" Sylvester S. .Strong. 


1849-50. 


Nathaniel Mead. 


I85I. 


" Ira Abbott. 


1852-53. 


" Reuben H. Loomis. 


1854-55- 


" Friend W. Smith. 


1856-57. 


" Joseph Wildey. 


1858-59- 


Joseph Woolley. 


1860-61. 


" Joseph Smith. 


1862-63. 


" Calvin B. Ford. 


1864. 


" Samuel F. Johnson. 


1865-66. 


" James D. Bouton. 


1867-68-69. 


" George L. Thompson. 


1870-71-72. 


" Larman W. Abbott. 


1873-74-75- 


" Theodore C. Beach. 


1876. 


John B. Merwin. 


1877. 


" William Ross. 


1878. 


" Smith H. Piatt. 



The history of this church would not be complete 
without reference especially to one to whose tireless 
labors, consistent life, and godly example the church is 
indebted more than to any other person for its growth 
and influence in the community — Jabez M. Gilbert. 
The " Methodist itinerant" came preaching a univer- 



METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. I 39 

sal atonement ; man's moral agency ; a full, free, and 
perfect salvation from sin ; the new birth ; the knowl- 
edge of the " witness of the Spirit ;" the duty of holi- 
ness of life. 

These truths met the wants of his soul, he accepted 
them, hesitated not to join the little band of like faith, 
demonstrated by a long and consistent life the truth 
of the doctrine he professed, and died leaving a va- 
cancy not soon to be filled. 

A man of firm convictions, strong will, stern integ- 
rity, deep and ardent sympathies, liberality eqiial to 
and often beyond his means, the Church found in him 
a reliable leader, a wise counsellor, a constant and lib- 
eral supporter ; the poor a cheerful and open-hearted 
benefactor, and the community a recognized example 
of consistent piety. 



CHAPTER X. 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF RIDGEBURY, AND PRO- 
TESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF RIDGEBURY. 

{Now exiificf.) 

The Congregational Church in Ridgebury was or- 
ganized in the month of January, 1769. It was com- 
posed of eighteen members, " professing the doctrine 
and practising the discipline agreed upon by the Gen- 
eral Consociation of the Churches of Connecticut, at 
their meeting in Saybrook, 1708." 

It appears from the records that meetings for public 
worship were held as early as 1760, in what was called 
the " New Patent Meeting House," which was proba- 
bly built as early as 1738, but there was no settled 
pastor until 1769, when a council of the consociated 
pastors and elders of the western district of Fairfield 
County, composed of Revs. Jonathan IngersoU, Rob- 
ert Silliman, Moses Mather, Samuel Sherwood, Seth 
Pomroy, Hezekiah Ripley, and Ebenezer Davenport, 
together with the following nine messengers : Mr. 
Joseph Bishom, of Stamford ; Joseph Piatt, Escp, 
Norwalk ; Lieut. Nathan Olmsted, Ridgefield ; Mr. 
Stephen Godfry, Green's Farms ; Capt. Elisha Albert 
Greenfield ; Lieut. Nehemiah Mead, Wilton ; The- 
ophilus Fitch, Esq., Canaan ; Deacon Daniel Andrews, 
Norfield ; Ensign Nathan Read, Middlesex, was con- 
vened and the church organized. 



RIDGEBURY CHURCHES. I4I 

At the time of its organization the church consisted 
of the following eighteen members, who presented cer- 
tificates from neighboring churches : 

Rev. Samuel Camp, Jabish Smith, Isaiah Birchard, 
James Northrop, John Rockwell, Daniel Coley, David 
Rockwell, Timothy Benedict, Samuel Keeler, Lemuel 
Abbott, Samuel St. John, John Joyce, Jonathan 
Osborn, Samuel Gates, James Sears, John Barber, 
Thomas Frost, and Thomas Wilson ; and the Rev. 
Samuel Camp was ordained and installed as their first 
pastor. 

The ordination services were as follows : First, prayer 
by Rev. Mr. Bartlet ; sermon, by Rev. Mr. Ingersoll ; 
ordaining prayer. Rev. Mr. Mather ; charge. Rev. Mr. 
Silliman ; right hand of fellowship, Rev. Mr. Pomroy ; 
laying on of hands, Revs. Jonathan Ingersoll, Robert 
Silliman, Moses Mather, and Seth Pomroy. The con- 
cluding prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Taylor, and 
the benediction pronounced by the pastor. Mr. 
Camp's salary was " seventy-five pounds lawful money 
annually." The society also voted to give him one 
hundred and fifty pounds for his settlement, to be 
paid in three equal annual instalments. Mr. Camp 
continued his labors with the church until 1804, a pe- 
riod of over thirty-five years, when he was regularly 
dismissed. His health not permitting him to labor 
as pastor, he continued his residence in Ridgebury 
until his death, which took place March loth, 1813. 
He was thrice married, and is buried beside his three 
wives in the cemetery, a few rods north of the meeting- 
house. 

After the dismission of Mr. Camp the church was 
without a settled pastor until 1821, when Rev. Nathan 



1 4 2 HIS TOR Y OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Burton was called, ordained, and installed as pastor. 
He continued in that relation until June, 1841, a pe- 
riod of nearly twenty years. Mr. Burton was a mem- 
ber of the church in Ridi^ebury, and was chosen dea- 
con in 181 3. After serving in that capacity for eight 
years, he resigned the ofifice in October, 1821, to be- 
come pastor of the church. He died in August, 1859, 
aged seventy-nine years. 

Mr. Burton was succeeded by Rev. Zalmon B. Burr, 
of Westport, Ct., a licentiate of New London Associa- 
tion. He was ordained and installed in June, 1843, 
and remained with the church seven years. After 
Mr. Burr, the society engaged the services of Rev. 
Martin Dudley, now of Easton, Ct., who preached 
about a year. 

The next settled pastor was Rev. Fhilo Canfield, of 
Buffalo City Presbytery. He commenced his labors 
in August, 1852, and was installed in September of 
the same year. Mr. Canfield continued his relations 
with the church until the Spring of 1856, when the 
connection was dissolved. In August of the same 
year, Rev. William W. Page was employed to preach 
for the society one year, as a supply. From Septem- 
ber, 1859, ^^ September, 1861, Rev. E. S. Hunting- 
ton, of Danbury, preached for the society. Mr. Hunt- 
ington was succeeded by Rev. F. J. Jackson, who 
preached nearly a year. 

At a special meeting of the church, convened for 
that purpose, December, 1862, a call was extended to 
Rev. John E. Elliott, of Barkhamsted, Ct. Mr. El- 
liott accepted the call, and commenced his labors in 
February, 1863, and was ordained and installed in 



RIDGEBURY CHURCHES. 1 43 

May following. He remained with the church but 
two years, or thereabouts. 

In the autumn of 1867 Rev. Augustus Alvord, of 
Bolton, Ct., commenced preaching for the church, and 
remained with them until August, 1871, four years, 
preaching as a stated supply ; and in September of 
the same year (1871), Rev. William M. Parsons, of 
Brooklyn, N. Y., was invited to supply the pulpit. 
The invitation was accepted, and Mr. Parsons has 
continued his labors with the church until the pres- 
ent time. 

Mr. Camp, the first pastor of the church, was a native 
of Salisbury, Ct. But little is known of the results 
of his labors. He left on record the names of thirty- 
five children of members of the church baptized by 
him from 1769 to 1799, none of whom are now living, 
so far as known. Mr. Burton also records the names 
of some twenty " children of believing parents" bap- 
tized by him. Of those baptized in infancy by Mr. 
Burton, but one is a member of the church at the. 
present time, or residing in Ridgebury, though sev- 
eral are known to be living elsewhere. 

During the long interval between the dismissal of 
Mr. Camp and the settlement of Mr. Burton, services 
were regularly held in the church, the pulpit being 
supplied by neighboring ministers, or a sermon read 
by some person of the congregation appointed for 
that purpose ; and from 1813 to 1817 a season of spe- 
cial religious interest was enjoyed, thirty-four members 
being added to the church by a public profession of 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The labors of Mr. Burton were highly appreciated 



144 HISTORY OF RTDGEFIELD. 

by the church, and eminently blessed of God. From 
1 82 1 to 1843, which covers the whole period of his 
ministry as pastor, one hundred and fourteen were 
added to the church, of whom " some remain unto 
this present, but the greater part are fallen asleep." 

During the pastorate of Mr. Burr, 1843 to 1850, 
eight new members were added. From 1 850 to the close 
of Mr. Canfield's pastoral relations with the church 
in 1856, twenty were added. From 1856 to the 
present time the additions to the church have been 
"few and far between," only seventeen in the whole 
twenty-two years. 

There have been nineteen deacons of the church 
since its organization in 1769, of whom but one, dea- 
con James E. Hayt, remains. In October, 1762, the 
Ecclesiastical Society of Ridgebury bought the land on 
which the church now stands, of John Whitlock. The 
consideration was " the love and respect I have and do 
bear unto said Discenting Society in Ridgebury." 

Previous to this time, it is said, an old Congregational 
church of some kind stood on the hill about half a 
mile south of the present house of worship. This was 
probably the " New Patent Meeting House" before 
alluded to. But in August, 1768, the society voted 
to build a " ChiircJi" forty-six feet long by thirty- 
six feet wide, to be " shingled with cedar shingles, and 
sided with chestnut or oak." It was further voted 
that " the new house shall stand facing the east, and 
be finished by the first day of July, 1769." 

In February, 1784, it was voted, " That we will do 
something towards making the meeting-house more 
comfortable and convenient." And in 1793 a com- 
mittee was appointed to " mark out the meeting-house 



RIDGEBURY CHURCHES. 1 45 

into pews, and sell them ; and to lay out the money 
that shall arise therefrom on the house." The con- 
gregation worshipped on rough wooden benches for 
twenty-four years before the pews were built, and 
listened to golden truths preached from a plain wooden 
pulpit. There were no stoves, except such as the more 
elderly females brought with them on the Sabbath, 
and these were always replenished with fresh coals 
from the neighboring fireplaces during the intermis- 
sion. The house was without plastered walls, but we 
never heard that any of the congregation complained 
of the cold. 

After the introduction of pews, the two— known as 
No. 5 — on each side of the pulpit, were reserved as 
"Honorary Pews," and the two — No. 11 — "under 
the stairs," as " Spare Pews." 

During the brief service of a Mr. Perkins, who sup- 
plied the pulpit for nearly a year after the dismissal of 
Mr. Camp, it was voted, in October, 1804, that " per- 
sons of other persuasions may come and hear Mr. Per- 
kins preach." 

At a meeting of the society held November 30th, 
1818, it was voted " that the Society grant liberty to 
the town of Ridgefield to hold their Town Meeting 
in the Meeting House in said Ridgebury for one 
Meeting." 

During the summer of 18 16, and again in 1834, the 
society repaired the meeting-house built in 1768, very 
much improving its external appearance, and in 1838 
they also thoroughly repaired the interior, entirely re- 
moving the wall, pews, and pulpit, supplying their 
places with new walls, convenient slips, and a desk of 
more modern style. They also closed the doors on 



1 46 II IS TO /i y OF RIDGEFIELD. 

the north and cast, leavins^" but one entrance to the 
church. 

In the spring of 1832, the society purchased ten 
acres of land with the buildings standing thereon, for 
a parsonage, and February 12th, 1838, they sold the 
same to Daxid Hanford, of Norwalk, Ct. 

In tile year 1844, the present pleasant and conve- 
nient parsonage house was erected on a plot of ground 
four rods by twenty, presented to the society b\- Mr. 
David Hanford, and the late Gamaliel N. Benedict, 
Esq. 

The " old church," which had stood as a sort of 
moral lighthouse for more than eighty years, and 
which had been the spiritual birthplace of so man}- 
souls, was finally demolished, and a new house — thirty 
by fort)'-six feet — erected in its place, which was dedi- 
cated, with appropriate exercises, to Almighty God 
in 1851. It is well furnished, with a bell weighing- 
nine hundred pounds, a melodeon, etc., etc., and 
though there is but a feeble remnant of the church 
left, \-ct the word of God is faithfully preached every 
Sabbath, and the ordinances of the Gospel regularly 
administered. 

Legacies have been left the society at different 
times, amounting in the aggregate to over seven thou- 
sand dollars, the income from which is appropriated 
to the support of the Gospel and other current ex- 
penses of the church. 

In former years the business of '' /iatting" and shoe- 
making was extensively carried on in Ridgebury, which 
gave employment to a large number of people, male 
and female. At the present time there is no manu' 



RIDGEBURY CHURCHES. 1 47 

factory of any kind in the place, and the Protestant 
population is somewhat diminished. 

Located near the church is a beautiful cemetery, 
containing an acre or more of ground. A part of it 
was used for burial purposes years before the Revolu- 
tionary war, and contains the bones of some of its 
heroes. 

Within a few years it has been twice enlarged, and 
inclosed by a neat and substantial iron fence. It is 
now one of the pleasantest rural cemeteries of its size 
in the State. 

An old burial-ground belonging to the Episcopal 
society was located on the south and east of their 
church edifice, on the hill three quarters of a mile 
south of the present cemetery, a centuiy and a half 
ago. In i860 several of the old tombstones were 
standing. At the present date (1878) none of them 
remain. 



PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN RIDCiEBURY. 

An Episcopal congregation existed in the society in 
the northern part of the town called Ridgebury, in 
the early part of the last century, and services were 
held contemporary with those in Ridgefield. It ap- 
pears from the printed reports of the " Society for 
the Propagation of the Gospel," that prior to 1731, 
and for some time afterward, Ridgefield, Ridgebury, 
and the Oblong (Salem) were considered in some 
sense within the bounds of the parish or mission of 



148 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Fairfield. The church appears to have been built 
about the middle of the last century, and was located 
in an elevated position of the place, on the open 
space or green about half a mile south of the present 
Congregational church. The exact date of its erec- 
tion cannot now be ascertained. 

In a letter of the church-wardens and vestry-men of 
Salem, to the Venerable Society in London, dated 
August 31st, 1767, they thus state : " That we for- 
merly united with the brethren of the Church at Ridge- 
field and Ridgebury, on the borders of the Connecti- 
cut Colony, and engaged the Rev. Mr. Clark to read 
Divine service and sermons to us on Sundays. Since 
Mr. Clark left us, by the advice of the Rev. Mr. Dib- 
ble (of Stamford), and the Rev. Mr. Leaming (of 
Norwalk), we have employed the worthy Mr. Epene- 
tusTownsend, who hath for some time alternately read 
to us and the people of Ridgefield and Ridgebury, 
whose exemplary life, sober conversation, and devout 
performance of religious offices, highly recommended 
him to our esteem ; and as the poor people of Ridge- 
field and Ridgebury, by the concurrence of the Church 
Wardens and Vestry in this memorial, hope to be in- 
dulged in being included under his care, having for- 
merly a conjunction with some of the neighboring 
places in the Province of New York, experienced the 
goodness and compassion of the ' Venerable Society' 
in appointing the Rev. Mr. Lamson to officiate among 
them, being many in number, having built a Church 
in each of those places, Ridgefield but eight, and 
Ridgebury but four miles from Salem, but at such a 
distance from Norwalk that they expect but very lit- 
tle service from the Rev. Mr. Leaming ; whereupon 



RIDGEBURY CHURCHES. 1 49 

we have unitedly sent our respective bonds to the 
Rev. Dr. Auchmuty of New York, in trust, obliging 
ourselves to pay in each place, equal to ^10 sterling 
per annum, in the whole amounting to £}p per annum 
for the time being ; and we no longer expect the 
Society's favor than we shall continue to deserve it." 
The Rev. Mr. Townsend accordingly went to Eng- 
land to receive Holy Orders, and returned in April, 

1768. In a letter dated the 29th of September, 1768, 
he informed the Society " that he arrived at his Mis- 
sion on the 26th of May, 1768, and was kindly re- 
ceived. The church-wardens, also of Salem, in the 
name of the people belonging to the Mission, have 
returned thanks to the Society for Mr. Townsend's ap- 
pointment. At Salem and Ridgefield there are one 
hundred and fifty church people, at Ridgefield eighty." 

In a letter to the society, dated September 29th, 

1769, he says : "I have constantly performed Divine 
service equally in my three Churches of Salem, Ridge- 
field, and Ridgebury ; in each of Avhich places people 
are zealous in their attendance on public worship ; 
and I have the pleasure to observe that through the 
divine blessing on my labors each of those congrega- 
tions is somewhat increased." 

In the same letter he says : " I beg liberty to re- 
quest a favor from the Society, which may perhaps 
be of considerable service to me ; the professors of 
the Church in Conn, are taxed for the support of 
the Minister of the Church in the same proportion 
as the Congregationalists for the support of their min- 
ister. This tax is levied and collected by the Congre- 
gationalists, together with their own, and by them 
paid to such ministers of the Church as are appointed 



I 50 HISTOR Y OF RIDGEFIELD. 

over th^m by the Society. Now Ridgefield and 
Ridgebury being in Conn, the Committee appointed 
for raising and paying the minister's rate at Ridge- 
bury have been in some doubt whether I am entitled 
to the rates of the Church people there, because it is 
certain they were formerly under Mr. Leaming's care, 
and had no written appointment, or anything from 
under the Society's hand to convince them that the 
Society had now included them within this Mission. 
Should the Ven. Society mention Ridgefield and 
Ridgebury in an abstract, as parts of my Mission to- 
gether with Salem ; or should they in a letter to the 
Church Wardens and Vestry of Ridgefield and Ridge- 
bury, or in some other method give assurance that 
Ridgefield and Ridgebury belong to my Mission, it 
must be of advantage to me, as it would remove all 
doubt whether I was by the laws of that Colony en- 
titled to the Church people's rates in those places." 

The society's abstracts for 1772 say, " that Mr. 
Townsend, missionary at Salem, states his congrega- 
tions to be increasing. Hath baptized sixty-two in- 
fants and two adults." In 1775 they say " that Mr. 
Townsend is constant in the performance of his duty 
in his own parishes, and preaches frequently in the 
parts adjacent. From Ladyday to Michaelmas he bap- 
tized twenty-one infants and one adult, and admitted 
two new communicants." The abstracts for 1776 
add, " that one letter from Mr. Townsend, of Septem- 
ber 29, 1775, gives the account of his mission, in 
which he hath baptized thirty infants, buried seven, 
and married three couple in the preceding half year." 

During the interval of the Revolutionary war there 
was a suspension of services in Ridgebury, as in the 



RIDGEBURY CHURCHES. I51 

other stations, by the departure of the Rev. Mr. 
Townsend, in July 1776, as stated in the account of St. 
Stephen's Church. The last services held in Ridge- 
bury, of which there is any existing record, was in 
1779, where we find the following in the Ridgefield 
parish record. 

"At a meeting of the Plrst Episcopal Society in 
Ridgefield, holden at the Town House on the 22'"' 
day of Sept. 1789, the following occurs among its 
doings : 

"Voted, That this Society shall pay a tax of two 
pence on the pound on the list of said Society by the 
first of March annually to David Perry, as long as he 
shall serve them in the ofiice of a Minister. 

" Voted, That the Society will consent that said 
Perry shall go to Ridgebury one quarter of the time." 

At a meeting of said society in the year following, 
the above consent, according to the record, was with- 
drawn. 

Thus after the services of the church had been main- 
tained with more or less frequency nearly half a cen- 
tury in Ridgebury, they appear to have been brought 
to a close, as far as any existing record remains. 
Removals and death wrought many changes in the 
congregation. Many of those remaining united with 
the Ridgefield church. Among its active supporters 
in the latter period of its history were Dr. John 
Andreas, the Sherwood families. Dr. Stephen Ben- 
nett, Nehemiah Sturges, Eliphalet Brush, and others. 
The two latter-named families united with the church 
in Ridgefield, and their constant attendance there is 
still in the recollection of many of its members. 

The church edifice, which stood on the north side of 



I 5 2 HIS TOR Y OF RIDGEFIELD. 

the Green, and was about the size of the first one 
erected in Ridgefield parish, remained until about the 
year 1810, when, being much out of repair, it was 
taken down, and its materials disposed of for other 
purposes, with the exception of a stone, still visible, 
supposed by many to have been one of the corner- 
stones. No vestige of its foundation now remains. 
The recollection of the church and its appearance 
is still fresh in the minds of several of our older citi- 
zens. 



CHAPTER XI. 

HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS OF THE TOWN. 

The school has always been one of the chief pillars 
of our nationality. The church and the school-house 
have stood side by side, while the preacher and the 
teacher have wrought together. It is also a fact, ap- 
parent to every careful observer, that nearly every 
college and seminary of learning in the length and 
breadth of our land has originated in the brain and 
by the hand of the minister of Christ. Especially is 
this true in New England, and of no State truer than 
of Connecticut. 

Scarcely had the log cabin indicated the halt of the 
emigrant, before the log school-house as surely in- 
dicated the purpose and plan of the settler. Every 
village and hamlet had its school and its church, and 
as a rule the latter was the parent of the former. This 
was the case in this town. It is not certainly known 
when the first school was opened, nor when the first 
church was gathered ; the earliest records of the town 
reveal the fact that both existed. The settlers came 
to the town with their faith in God and their faith in 
education already established, and the one immedi- 
ately gave rise to a church and the other to a school. 

The first reference made to the schools of the town 
was in the year 1721, when " it was voted at a town 
meeting that eight pounds shall be raised for y*" sup- 
port of a school." 



154 If IS TORY OP RIDGMFIELD. 

In the year 1725 General Assembly passed an act 
releasing the citizens of the town from the payment 
of taxes, " provided they draw no money out of the 
treasury for the school." 

In 1742 the town by a major vote released the peo- 
ple of the new patent (Ridgebury) from paying any 
tax to the town school on condition that they should 
keep a school among themselves six months yearly. 

At this time there was in the town but one school- 
house, and that was- located nearly opposite Mr. Ab- 
ner Gilbert's residence ; there was, however, another 
school taught in the town-house. 

That this was not the first school-house erected in 
the town is proven by the fact that as early as 1726 
steps were taken in a town meeting to repair the 
" school-house ;" which school-house was located 
on the Church Green, near where the present Congre- 
gational church edifice now stands. 

So nearly as can be at present determined this first 
school-house was used for a meeting-house until 
1726, and for this purpose was at one time enlarged 
by an addition to the east end. This addition (or new 
part, as it was called) was afterwards (when the Con- 
gregational church was built) taken off and removed, 
and the remaining or original part repaired and used 
exclusively for school purposes. 

School continued to be taught in this school-house 
until the first town-house was built, which was in 
1743, when the school was removed to that house, as 
will be seen by an action of the town in 1746. On 
the 18th September, 1744, this old school-house was 
sold at public auction. 

The first town-house stood on the corner south of 



SCHOOLS OF THE TOWN. 1 55 

Mrs. Irad Hawley's, and was afterwards moved to some 
point which cannot at present be determined. 

The action in reference to its removal reads, " The 
Town House shall be moved and set a little Southerly 
of where the Pound now stands." The probability is 
that this new location was immediately across the 
Green, a little south of Mrs. Nathan Smith's. The 
following will throw some light on the manner in 
which schools at that early day were maintained : 

At a sheep meeting held in Ridgefield, December 
24th, 1742, it was voted by a majority " that the 
money coming for the hire of the Sheep the last year 
shall be given as a Bounty to help maintain the Town 
School for ever, and when the money is gathered it 
shall be delivered to the committee that is appointed 
to take care of the bounty money given by the Govern- 
ment to support y*" school. And ordered by the above 
said vote to let out the said money as y'' money is 
that comes from the government, and to improve the 
use thereof to pay it towards y^ maintenance of said 
town school forever. 

"Test Timothy Keeler, Clerk.'' 

This sheep hire is easily explained. Until about 
the year 1760 there were a considerable number of 
sheep in the town, owned by the town — Mr. Goodrich 
says about two thousand — which were kept by a shep- 
herd in the summer months, and regularly twice in the 
week let to the highest bidder to lay in his plough 
land during the night season, which method of enrich- 
ing the land it is stated " caused the worn land to 
produce excellent crops of wheat of the best quality." 
The money thus obtained was that which was appro- 
priated by the town for school purposes. The fol- 
lowing receipt appears on town records : 



156 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

" Ridgefield April 28*'' 1743, then received of Capt. 
Richard Olmstead and Matthew Benedict, Commit- 
tee of the Donation Money Given by the Government, 
y'' sum of 2$£ 14s and 6d in order to pay the School 
Master. We say we received it, as Witness our hands, 

Joseph Keeler, ) School 
James Benedict, f Committee."' 

Rev. Samuel Goodrich says in his history of the 
town, written in A.D. 1800, that the schools of the 
town " are maintained i*' in part by the produce 
of the sales of lands in Litchfield County by the 
State and appropriated to the schools. 2'"'. By the 
produce of an excise duty laid on Rum and Tea, but 
the act proving unpopular was never carried into gen- 
eral execution, the money paid in by this town was 
returned and appropriated for the benefit of schools. 
3**. By the 40/ on the thousand, as it is called. 4"'. 
By the produce of the sales of the western lands, and 
lastly, in case of deficiency, by a tax on the scholars." 

Mr. Goodrich also says that the " wages given to 
masters is from 15 to 18 dollars per month, accord- 
ing to number of scholars and the ability of the 
teachers. There is taught in our schools Reading, 
Writing, Arithmetic, and Grammar, some Catechising, 
and a little manners. It has been remarked that since 
the visiting committee have attended to their duty 
our schools are under better regulation and our schol- 
ars make greater proficiency. There are a number of 
young people who have been taught in our schools 
who have gone into other parts and taught with ap- 
plause. Board for children is from seventy-five cents 
to one dollar per week, and tuition from fifty cents to 
one dollar per quarter." 



SCHOOLS OF THE TOWN. I57 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield March i8"> 1746 at y" said 
meeting Serg' James Northmp by a Major vote was chosen Moderator. 

" The s"* meeting by their Major vote do agree and order that there 
shall be two women Schools be kept from y"' first of April next till y"* 
first of Octob'' ensuing, y" one of s"* Schools to be kept at y* Town 
house and y^ other at y" house that was built for that purpose, a little 
northward of Jonah Smith'. 

" Test Timothy Keeler, Registr." 

" Ridgefield April y® 13*'' 1749 then Received of Capt Richard 
Olmsted, Matthew Benedict, School Com'*" of y* Donation money y'' 
sum of Twenty six Pounds twelve shillings money in order to pay for 
y" keeping School or Schools in testimony hereof we do set our hands 

" Sam" Smith ^ 

" Thomas Hyatt V Selecimgn." 

" James Northrop ) 

" At a Town Meeting held in Ridgefield by Adjournment from 
Decern'' y" iS"' to Decem"" y" 24*'' ad 1753 Matthew Benedict being 
Moderator it was Voted in s"* meeting that there shall be two Men 
Schools kept 3 Months between this time and y" first of April next one 
of them at y* Town house and y" other at y'^ School house near L' 
Jonah Smith'. It was also voted in s'' meeting that there shall be 
three School Mistresses provided and put into Schools y** first of April 
next and continued therein until y" first of October next, one of them 
to be kept in y" School house near L' Jonah Smiths, one of them in y" 
Town house, and one of them in or near Ben" Rockwells house. 

" It was voted in s"^ meeting that two Men Schools shall be kept by 
two masters in (s'^ houses or places where y'* above said men Schools 
are to be kept) from y^ first of October next till y*^ next Annual Town 
Meeting." 

In the year 1761 five schools were taught in the 
town, one at the town-house, and the remaining four 
at houses built for the purpose ; one at West Lane, 
one at Titicus, one at Limestone, and one at Florida. 

At a town meeting held December 28th, 1761, it 
was " Voted that there be five Schools kept within the 
Limits of this Society for three months viz. one at the 
8 



158 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

house near John Northrups J""", one at the Town 
House, one at the house near Benj° Stebbins Jr, 
one at Limestone ; and one near Piatt's Mill, Pro- 
vided there be a sufficient number of scholars at each 
school, to be Determined by the School Commi'''^ 
Capt. Daniel Bradley, Aaron Northrup, Tho^ Hawley, 
Theophilus Stebbins, and Obadiah Piatt were Chosen 
a School Committee. 

" Granted a Rate or Tax of three farthings upon the 
Pound to Defray the Charges of the Schools and 
Society, to be paid by the first Day of May next. 

" John Smith Ju'' was Chosen a Collector to Collect 
the Society Rate and pay the same into the Hands 
of the Commi'''' that has the charge of the School 
Bonds viz Sam Olmsted Esq Capt Richard Olmsted 
and Stephen Smith." 

On the 22d of December, 1762, it was voted, '' That 
there shall be 25 Scholars to attend each School in the 
Society one Day with the other as long as the Schools 
are Continued." 

On the 20th of December, 1763, at a meeting of the 
First Ecclesiastical Society it was voted that the 
schools be continued the same as the previous year, 
with the additional clause : " Liberty is allowed by the 
Major vote of the meeting to set up Six Schools in 
the Society at or near the Places where they were 
kept last year and to be kept by Masters for three 
Months, and each School to draw an equal Share of 
the ten Shilling upon the thousand allowed by the 
Government for the use of Schools and the Interest 
upon the Donation, provided they are kept two 
months compleat. " 

On the 14th of December, 1767, it was voted in the 



SCHOOLS OF THE TOWN. 159 

said society meeting that the " Society be Divided 
into Districts for Schooling." 

So far as can be gathered such a division had never 
before been definitely made. Previous to this schools 
were located in different parts of the parish, seem- 
ingly without regard to definite limits. 

In 1773 it was voted at a society's meeting " that 
schools maybe kept in the same places, and under the 
same regulations as last year, with this addition, that 
each Committee man warn the people in the District 
where he resides to meet at Time and Place, and the 
major part of their votes shall Determine who shall be 
the master to keep their school, and the Committee 
shall be concluded thereby and hire the master. Said 
district shall by their major vote order him to hire ; and 
also with this reserve that the district up at Tytichus 
have Liberty to keep their school at the house near to 
James Smith's, or at any other place said District shall 
agree upon." 

" At a Society Meeting held by adjournment Dec"" 14"' ad 1784. 

" Voted That this Society be and is divided into five whole districts 
and two half districts Voted, That all that part of the Society, begin- 
ing at and including L' Wilsons Dwelling House, and running South- 
erly including Esq'' Benedicf* Dwelling House and all the houses joining 
on the West side of Town Street, as far as Norwalk line then Easterly 
on said line as far as James Ressequie house (including it) thence 
Northerly taking in the dwelling houses joining the East side of the 
Road to the west side of the Great Swamp, as far North as Capt Scotts 
House up the Lane to L' Wilsons aforesaid, be called the first District. 

" Also, to begin at the North West corner of the first District, to run 
Easterly along the North Line of the same to the Great Swamp then 
North along the West side of the same to the Island Bridge then over 
the same, including John Waters and Isaac Sherwoods Houses, as far 
North as Waters' Barn, then a Westerly course to the mouth of the 
Lane south of Jasper Meads House, then a strait course to Titichus 



l6o HISTORY OP RIDGEFIELD. 

Bridge then Westerly the South side of King's House to the road 
South of Daniel Dauchy's House — then Westerly along the middle of 
the road to the State line, then southerly along said line to Concklins 
Saw Mill then Easterly a strait line, to said North West-corner of the 
first District, to be called the Second District. 

" Also, to begin at the River Westerly of John Waters Barn to run 
Northerly on the East side of Gideon Scotts Dwelling House, to Ridge- 
bury Line then Westerly along said line to the State line, then 
Southerly along s'^ State line to the North West corner of the Second 
District, then Easterly along the North line thereof, to the River 
where it begun to be called the third District. 

" Also To begin at the South West Corner of the first District — 
and to run Northerly along the West line thereof, to the North West 
corner of said first District, then Westerly along the south line of the 
second District to the State line, then Southerly along the State line to 
Norwalk Line, then Easterly along Norwalk line to s"* South West 
corner of first District ; To be called the fourth District. 

" Also To begin at the South East Corner of the Third District, 
to run as far Northerly on the East line thereof as the turn of the river 
then to run East to the River, then along the river to Resseque's Saw 
Mill, then to run Easterly a strait line across the South end of Burts 
pond to Redding Line, then Southerly along s'd line, to the Cross High- 
way leading to Kains then Westerly taking in the Houses on the South 
side of said Highway to Nathan Burr's (including it), then Westerly a 
strait course to the South East Corner of the Second District, then 
Northerly on the East line of the Second District to Waters Barn, then 
Westerly to said South East Corner of the third District at the river 
where it begun. To be called the fifth District. 

" Also To begin at the North East Corner of the fifth District and to 
run Westerly along the North line thereof till it comes to the East line 
of the third District, then Northerly along the East thereof to Ridge- 
bury line ; then Easterly along s'd line to Danbury line, then Southerly 
Westerly and Easterly along said Danbury and Reading lines to said 
North East corner of the fifth District 

" To be called the first half District. 

" Also To begin at the South East corner of the first District and to 
run Northerly along the East line thereof, to the southwest corner of 
the fifth District then Easterly along the South line thereof to Reading 
line then southerly along said line to Norwalk line then Westerly along 
Norwalk line to the South East Corner of said first District 

" To be called the Second half District. 



SCHOOLS OF THE TOWN. l6l 

" Voted, That the Public Monies (by Law appropriated for the ben- 
efit of schools) belonging to this Society be equally divided, between 
and to the Several School Districts in said Society and that each whole 
District one Sixth part thereof and Each half District one twelvth part 
thereof ; Provided Each whole District, keeps Schools three Month in 
Each Year ; and Each half District, six weeks in Each Year ; — and in 
case any whole or half District fails of keeping a school as aforesaid ; 
then the Moneys belonging to them (in case they had kept School as 
aforesaid) to be divided as aforesaid to and among those Districts — 
that keep a School as aforesaid. 

" Voted That Jesse Benedict, Benjamin Smith Job Smith John 
Benedict J'' Michael Warring Joseph Mead and Robert Edmond, be 
and are appointed School Committees, for the Several Districts to 
which they belong for the Year Ensuing. 

" At a Town Meeting held April y*' io"> 1786 voted 

" That the Proprietors of the Frame set up for a School House near 
y* Dwelling house of Jeremiah Wilson may have the privilege of ap- 
propriating the present Town house towards finishing said School 
House ; provided the Proprietors of said School House fully vest the 
Town and the first Society with the privilege of holding all their neces- 
sary Town Proprietors, First Society and Freemans Meetings therein 
and that they (the proprietors of s'' School House) will finish and 
Compleat said School House and make it Convenient by seating y* 
same." 

The above house was known as the Independent 
School-House. 

" At a meeting of the Proprietors of the Independent School House 
holden at the House of Widow Clemence Smith on April y* 21'' 1786 
Silas Hull Moderator and Jacob Smith Jun Clerk protempore of said 
meeting. Voted 

" That the proprietors of y" said Independant School House will 
take and Appropriate the now Town House, agreeably to the vote of 
the Town Respecting said Town and School House and do wholly and 
fully Invest the Town with all the Privileges respecting said School 
House, which are Mentioned in the Town Vote respecting y" same." 

This independent school-house was located in Mr. 
Lounsbury's yard, directly in front of his present car- 
riage-house. It seems to have been a school of higher 



l62 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



grade than the common district schools, and for up- 
wards of thirty years was taught by Mr. Samuel Steb- 
bins. 

In 1799 there were ten schools kept in the limits of 
the first society, in as many houses built for the pur- 
pose. The number of scholars at that time taken by 
the Visiting Committee was four hundred and thirty- 
three. 

Since then other districts have been formed and 
other schools established. 

The following are the numbers and names of the 
several school districts as at present existing in the 
town : 



Dist 



trict N 


0. I. 


Scotland. 




2. 


Bennett's Farms, 




' 3- 


Limestone. 




' 4- 


Titicus. 




' 5- 


West Mountain. 




' 6. 


Center. 




' 7. 


West Lane. 




' 8. 


Whipstick, 




' 9- 


Flat Rock. 




' 10. 


Branchville. 




' II. 


Florida. 




' 12. 


Farmingville. 




' 13- 


North Ridgebury 




' H- 


South Ridgebury 



The number of scholars enumerated in the list of 
the town in the month of January, 1878, as of school 
age, is four hundred and thirty-four. 

Within the last three or four years new school- 



SCHOOLS OF THE TOWN. 1 63 

houses have been built in the Branchville, Whipstick, 
North Ridgebury, and South Ridgebury districts. 

The school-houses in the Scotland and Limestone 
districts have been almost entirely rebuilt, and the 
one in the Center district enlarged, newly seated, and 
much improved. Of the school-houses in the other 
districts, some are in good repair, others need to be 
rebuilt or otherwise improved. 

The enumeration of the children of school age the 
last year (1877) was four hundred and twenty-seven ; 
the whole number who attended the schools was four 
hundred and six ; the registered number in the win- 
ter was three hundred and fifty-nine ; in the summer, 
three hundred and nine ; and the average attendance 
during the year was two hundred and twenty-nine. 

The following persons comprise the present Board 
of Education for the town : 

Dr. Daniel L. Adams, Dr. William S. Todd, Rev. 
David D. Bishop, Archibald Y. Paddock, Gould 
Rockwell, Daniel S. Sholes, Charles B. Northrup, 
Lewis E. Smith, and William H. Beers. Daniel L. 
Adams, President of the Board ; William S. Todd, 
Secretary ; William S. Todd, Rev. David D. Bishop, 
Archibald Y. Paddock, Acting School Visitors. 

Select schools have been a prominent feature of 
the town almost from its first settlement until the 
past few years. In some cases these schools have 
been conducted by the pastors of the churches, and in 
others by professional teachers. They have generally 
been taught in buildings erected for the purpose, al- 
though in a few instances private houses have been 
occupied. 

For many years several of the neighboring towns 



164 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

looked to Ridgefield in most part for their educational 
privileges. Young men have been educated here who 
afterwards filled some of the most important positions 
of public trust or professional responsibility. At 
present there is a dearth of such schools, although 
sadly needed, Miss Hurlbutt's school for young chil- 
dren being the only exception to the rule. 

A decided improvement in many features of the 
district schools, however, has tended to make up the 
deficiency. Through the deep interest and zeal of 
our excellent school committee, great improvement 
has been made not only in the school buildings, but 
in the libraries, the desks, and all the school-room 
furniture. And it is to be hoped that the day is not 
distant when an academy or a first-class graded school 
shall form one of the most attractive and useful fea- 
tures of our beautiful village. 




RESIDENCE OV MRS. NATHAN SMITH. 



CHAPTER XII. 

RIDGEFIELD IN 180O. 

In the library of the Athenseum, at Hartford, Ct., 
there is a manuscript work entitled, " A Statistical 
Account of Ridgefield, in the County of Fairfield, 
drawn up by Rev. Samuel Goodrich from Minutes fur- 
nished by a Number of his Parishioners, A.D. 1800." 

Mr. Goodrich was pastor of the Congregational 
Church in Ridgefield for twenty-five years, and was 
the father of S. G. Goodrich, Esq. 

The following extracts are taken from the above 
history, through the kindness of the Library Associa- 
tion, and are now, many of them, published for the 
first : 

" In consequence of the exchange made by this 
State with the State of New York, in 1733 for part of 
Stamford and Greenwich, of what is commonly called 
the Oblong, one mile and three-quarters in width, the 
whole length of the first patent was cut off from 
Ridgefield, the whole town therefore contains but two 
located societies, being the first or old society and 
Ridgebury. The town in its present form is nearly in 
the common figure of a cofifin. The first society con- 
tains about 16,000 acres, and Ridgebury society in 
this town about 1 1,000. The whole township is about 
fifteen miles in length, the width at south end about 
three miles and three-quarters, at about one-third of 
the length northward it is about five miles wide, and 
at the north end only half a mile ; bounded south 
by Norwalk, east by Reading and part of Danbury, 



I 66 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

north by Danbury and New Fairfield, and west by 
the State of New York. There were in the year 1799 
ten (10) schools kept in the first society by masters 
in as many school-houses built for that purpose, and 
the number of scholars taken by the visiting com- 
mittee were 433. 

" There are three foreigners in the town who are 
paupers, viz., two men and one woman ; one of the 
men, named Yabcconib, was from Wales ; the other, 
named Jaggcr, is an old man about 95 years, an Eng- 
lishman, who served under the Duke of Cumberland 
at the battle of Culloden in 1745, and was in Flan- 
ders with the regiment previous to that battle. 

" There is the appearance of sundry Indian graves 
at a place commonly called Nooricus Ridge. There 
is one mountain which retains its Indian name, As- 
prooni (high or lofty), and there are several ponds, 
as Mammenusquah, Nisopack, Aokeets, and Umper- 
wauge. There are no Indians at present living in the 
town, except one who has learned the mason trade 
and has married a white woman. One died in the 
town about two years since at a great age, not cer- 
tainly known, but supposed ninety-six or more. 

"The general face of the land is gently swelling 
ridges, extending from north to south, though there 
are some broken abrupt rocky precipices, and a con- 
siderable quantity of very stony land, which is yet 
and probably will be reserved to grow wood and tim- 
ber upon. The soil on the ridges are generally com- 
posed of loam and clay, and there is a considerable 
quantity in some parts of the town of a light lime- 
stone soil, but little of gravel. The low lands, or 
swamps, of which there are several, are generally a 
deep black soil made by the fallen timber and leaves, 
and the wash from the ridges, but they suffer much 
for the want of drainage. The soil was originally 
very fertile, and produced plenty of excellent wheat, 
which has generally failed since the appearance of the 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1800. 1 67 

Hessian fly, though now and then it does well on 
some favorite spots. 

"It at present produces good rye and Indian 
corn, a considerable more than for the consumption 
of the inhabitants ; flax, large quantities of oats, 
buckwheat, beans, and peas. Onions grow as well 
in some open gardens as in any part of the State, 
The land is very good for grass. 

" The middle of the township lies about fourteen 
miles from the landing at Norwalk, and is equally dis- 
tant on the highest land between the rivers Hudson 
and Ausatonuck, and in particular the hill or ridge 
lying west of and near the town street, is, by way of 
eminence called the High Ridge (Indian name Can- 
doto), from which, in clear weather, the mountains 
west of the Hudson, and the West Rock, near New 
Haven, may be clearly seen, and the Sound for fifty 
or sixty miles. The waters rise at the foot of this 
hill and run in different directions, discharging into 
the Sound at Fairfield, Norwalk, and Stamford, and 
into the river Hudson by the river Titicus, and through 
the river Croton. The waters also which rise in this 
town discharge into the Ousetonuck at the great falls 
in New Milford. There are, therefore, no streams of 
any considerable magnitude and consequence before 
they leave the limits of the town, and thus all are fre- 
quently during the summer months too small to carry 
mills. There are, however, some ponds in the town 
that have by improvement been made sufficient to 
answer the necessities -of the inhabitants and more. 
The town being a hilly country furnishes a number of 
excellent small springs of water, which is light or heavy 
according to the soil from which they flow. Some of 
the springs have in the course of ten or fifteen 
years changed the quality of the water, and some few 
wells, from what cause is not certainly known ; it is, 
however, in one well attributed to its being not long 
used. The most remarkable spring is in the southerly 



1 68 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

part of the town, and is commonly called Silver 
Spring ; the water is very cold and heavy. It dis- 
charges about one-fourth water sufficient to carry a 
grist-mill, and is not materially affected by the freshet 
or drought. The wells on the height of the ridges are 
commonly from thirty to forty feet, those in the valleys 
from twelve to thirty ; but in time of severe drought 
many wells fail of water. There have been but two in- 
stances of aqueducts in the town, and those only to 
supply a single family each, which experiments have 
been made in the course of this summer, and are 
likely to answer their design. The expense by the rod 
is about 4-$-. There are a great many small streams in 
all parts of the town, but most of them in a dry sea- 
son fail, except near the springs which produce them. 

" There are in most of the mountains, amongst the 
rocks and stones, appearances of sulphur and iron. 
There has not yet any bed been opened that prom- 
ises to pay the expense of working. There has been 
several attempts to dig after the precious metals, and 
a considerable quantity of the ore has been carried 
away ; but to collect any quantity of the metal has 
proved impracticable. There are several beds of lime- 
stone of good qualities, and some quarries of a gray- 
ish and sky-blue stone which is serviceable in build- 
ing, but no freestone. 

" The original timber consisted of the several sorts 
of walnuts and oaks. Butternuts are plenty, with 
maple beech, ash, dogwood, elm, sassafras, and a 
number of shrubs, as whortleberries, bayberries, etc., 
stately spruce trees. In the first settlement of the 
town the inhabitants annually burnt over the high 
rough land for the benefit of the wild feed that grew 
on them, which was a great injury to the old trees, 
and entirely prevented the young from growing ; but 
since that practice has ceased, our rough lands have 
a most beautiful thriving young growth coming on, 
which promises plenty of timber and fuel. There is 
a considerable number of the sugar maple trees grow- 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1800. 1 69 

ing, but no more sugar made than is consumed by the 
makers. The common method of perforating the tree 
is either with a twist auger or a narrow chisel. Our 
woods yield lumber for our maple tubs, etc., and some 
small quantity for exportation, as heading, staves, and 
hoops. It is probable with prudent management this 
town will produce sufificient wood for fuel for the in- 
habitants for a century to come. The price of wood 
for fuel has not yet been more in the street than one 
dollar per load, containing half a cord. There have 
been several forges set up in the town, and near it, 
within a few years past ; but it is probable that they 
will soon cease on account of the extraordinary con- 
sumption of wood, having in a short time more than 
doubled the price of wood land in the extremities of 
the town. There are five grist-mills in the town, two 
fulling mills, and several saw-mills carried by water, 
which answer for the inhabitants, but carry on no 
business on an extensive scale. 

" The price of land has gradually increased since 
the first improvement, but is not so high as in the 
neighboring towns, for the reasons that there are no 
gatherings of the people for or on account of the pub- 
lic business in the town, and our rivers are so small, 
being at the head of them, that no water-works can 
be carried on to profit on an extensive plan. There 
are but few mechanics and manufacturers, traders, or 
men in the learned professions, to the number of peo- 
ple who follow agriculture, and most of the inhabit- 
ants raise provisions for their own consumption and 
some for exportation, for which reason the price of 
labor or provisions is not generally so high as it is in 
more populous places. 

" The people generally manufacture their own 
linen and woollen cloths in their families, using all their 
wool and most of their flax. 

" it is supposed that the quantity of flax-seed annu- 
ally sent from this town is from 500 to looo bushels, 
according as the season is more or less productive. 



170 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



The old people love turnips yet better than potatoes, 
and there are considerable quantities used every year — 
from 2000 to 4000 bushels a year ; they make good 
feed for sheep and cows that give milk. Potatoes are 
very much used, and increased attempts are making 
to raise them for market ; but the distance from mar- 
ket is so great that it is not expected the practice will 
be general. 

" Our teams used for transportation and the sev- 
eral branches of industry and husbandry have been 
generally composed of oxen and horses together, and 
our vehicles for carriage have been carts and sleds ; 
but within a few years past wagons drawn by horses 
have greatly multiplied, and the cart, harrow, and 
plough are more frequently drawn by oxen alone. 
The increase of cattle is doubtless an advantage to so 
rough a country as ours, and the increase of horses, 
except for sale and exportation, a disadvantage to 
us, if not to every country. 

" Pleasure sleighs and those for lumber have greatly 
multiplied since the Revolution. Our grain is uni- 
versally thrashed with flails, and cleaned with a fan and 
riddled. 

" The town being originally much covered with 
chestnut timber, that was for about fifty years chiefly 
used for fencing ; since that time the post fences have 
gradually been replaced with stone, and at present 
there is but very little timber cut for that purpose, 
except for posts and bars, and there is probably mova- 
ble stone enough for the purpose of fencing. 

" This town, by the mode of laying it out at first, 
was cut into small pieces or tracts of land, and the 
people being generally husbandmen, scarce any man 
has more than .he and his family want to improve, 
and of course we have no tenanted lands. There are 
some people who crop it, as is termed with us, that 
is, plough and sow for a certain share ; the common 
custom is to the labor two-thirds and to the land one. 

" There has been for the last forty years a constant 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1800. I 7 1 

emigration of the people born in the town to the 
different parts of the United States. 

" In our Revolution many of the young people left 
the town, and some of them now reside in the British 
dominion ; some have returned and several are dead. 
The people of this place have hitherto been so fa- 
vored with the grace of God that there has never been 
one convicted of any crime punishable by laws of 
the land with death. 

" There have been two instances of suicide, natives, 
in the prime of life, one male and the other female ; 
both were married and had families. 

" Until about the year 1760 there was a considera- 
ble number of good sheep in the town, and they were 
kept by a shepherd in the summer months, and regu- 
larly twice in the week let to the highest bidder to 
lay on his plough land during the night season, which 
method of manuring caused the worn land to produce 
excellent crops of wheat of the best quality, and great 
quantities of the land belonging to the proprietors 
was kept for the sheep to feed upon ; but about that 
time (1760) the proprietors agreed to divide their in- 
terests in said several lands, and they were soon 
fenced up, since which time the sheep have gradu- 
ally decreased, and would have become almost extinct 
but for the encouragement and protection of the State 
legislature. 

" There are probably about half as many sheep in 
the town as there are people. It would be but a ven- 
ture to guess the number of swine ; there may be not 
far from 1400 or 1500, and there are from 150 to 200 
barrels of pork annually carried out of the town, and 
about as much beef. There may be from 250 to 300 
firkins of butter exported and half the weight of 
cheese (9000), and about one hundred (lOO) head of 
fat cattle driven to market on their legs to New 
York. 

" The making of butter has much increased within 
twenty years. As it can now be carried fresh to New 



172 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



York market, the price is more than three times than 
it then was. 

" There is a good tan-work in this town, in which 
about fifty vats are occupied. It has, however, been 
the custom for ahnost all the farmers to tan their own 
leather, and do many other parts of mechanical busi- 
ness. There is also a hatting manufactory, in which 
about five or six workmen are employed to good advan- 
tage ; it furnishes the inhabitants with hats and sends 
abroad work to a handsome amount. There are like- 
wise two boot and shoe factories, which will probably 
send abroad 5000 pairs of boots and shoes ; the mate- 
rials they work are chiefly brought from New York or 
abroad. Cabinet-work is done in town for the inhabi- 
tants and some of the neighboring towns. It has al- 
ready been observed that the inhabitants- manufac- 
ture all the wool they raise, and a considerable quan- 
tity is brought from abroad. 

" A large quantity of ducking (not for sale, but for 
the southern market), perhaps 3000 yards at \s. per 
yard, is annually made and sold. The great quanti- 
ties of cotton cloths, as muslin, etc., imported and 
sold at a low price, has a tendency to discourage mak- 
ing American cloth, though many make linen and 
exchange with the shopkeepers for cotton goods. 

" There are no breweries in this town, and the gen- 
eral custom, which used formerly be practised, of mak- 
ing small beer for family use, is almost entirely neg- 
lected, except for sake of the lees to make bread. 

" There were formerly deer, bears, wolves, pan- 
thers, and wild-cats in our woods, and beaver in our 
ponds, but they are now extinct. We have red and 
grey foxes, some few racoons, wood-chucks, grey 
and striped squirrels. There were at the first set- 
tlement great numbers of rattlesnakes, and snakes 
equally poisonous, but they are almost destroyed. 
One method for their destruction was the turning of 
swine among them, which devoured them. About 
the year 1780, and for several succeeding years, the 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1800. 



173 



canker-worm destroyed our apples and apple-trees in 
many of our orchards to a very alarming degree ; but 
about the year 1794, in the spring season, soon after 
the leaves and worms |made their appearance, there 
came into the orchards several flocks of uncommon 
birds, a little larger than a blue-bird, of a brown color, 
and picked the worms from the trees, as was also the 
case with a number of flocks of pigeons, which greatly 
checked them, and the frost which happens sometimes 
the latter end of May entirely destroyed them, so we 
have not one canker-worm since that has been heard 
of. 

" Respecting the bird, it has never been seen with 
us since, except it be the one that appears in the win- 
ter, which, if it is the same, is considerably changed in 
its colour. 

" There were a few barberry bushes in town that 
were for a long time kept for medical purposes ; the 
great blast of wheat about the year 1775 induced 
people totally to destroy them. 

"It is an undoubted fact that a bunch of those 
bushes, not more than an armful, blasted several 
fields of wheat, so as totally to destroy some and much 
injure others, at half a mile's distance. As to the cause 
of their blasting, it is conjectured that it is their sour- 
ness, as it is observed that wheat delights in light 
sweet soils, which naturally produces the white and 
red clover. It has also been observed that wheat 
fields lying near swamps producing cranberries have 
been blasted by them ; but it is necessary, in order to 
produce this destructive effect, that the weather be 
moist and the wind blow in a direction from the 
bushes or swamp to the fields of grain, when the 
noxious effluvia which the bushes emit fills the air, 
and being of such a nature that as soon as it comes 
in contact with the straw it poisons it, and destroys 
it so as to afford no nourishment to the kernel. 

" There are two places or houses built for public 
worship in the first society, and two in Ridgebury, 



I 74 IIISTOR V OF RIDGEFIELD. 

one of which, the Episcopal, has gone to decay. One 
of the houses in the old society is used by the Congre- 
gationalists and the other by the Episcopalians. Mr. 
Thomas Hawley, from Northampton, was settled in the 
first society soon after the town was settled in the 
year 1714, and was their first pastor, and continued 
till the year 1739, when he deceased in the prime of life. 
He was an able divine, a man of great frankness 
and sociability, an excellent scholar, and was very use- 
ful to the town, not only as a minister but in a civil 
capacity, serving them as their town-clerk, and do- 
ing almost all their writing business until his death. 

" As an encouragement for his settlement in the 
ministry, in the then infant state of the town, he 
received one twenty-ninth part of the land to himself 
and his heirs. Some of his descendants are now living 
in the town. His salary was small at first, but increased 
gradually as the people became more able ; but it may 
be remarked as a capital error in the original pro- 
prietors of this town, as in many others, in giving 
away the right of soil. It is probable that had what 
was given to Mr. Hawley been appropriated to the 
ministry and for religious purposes, that the interest 
at this day would have defrayed all the expenses of 
the society. Some may perhaps think it best, and that 
it endears a people and their minister supporting him 
by tax. Mr. Jonathan Ingersoll succeeded Mr. Haw- 
ley in the ministry. He was from Milford. He was 
ordained in the year 1740, and fulfilled for many years 
his duty with ability, ingrafting himself in the affec- 
tions of the people, and was universally beloved and 
esteemed. Some years before his decease a shock of 
the palsy weakened his body and mind, but he con- 
tinued to do his duty in ofifice until near the time of 
his death, which was on 2'^ October, 1778, after which 
time there was a succession of temporary preachers 
until 6"' of July, 1786, when Mr. Samuel Goodrich, of 
Durham, was ordained, and is the present pastor. It 
is worthy of remark that the people in this town have 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1800. I 75 

always been attached to their ministers, and great har- 
mony and peace has subsisted between them. 

" The Episcopalians built their first house of pub- 
lic worship in the year 1740 ; they never had a 
clergyman to themselves steadily, but have succes- 
sively employed a number ; first, Mr. Caner, then 
Mr. Beach, Mr. Fowle, Mr. Townsend, Mr. De Lan- 
cey, Dr. Perry, and lastly Mr. Butler, who is esteemed 
a worthy man and gives good satisfaction to his peo- 
ple. 

" Ridgebury society was set off in the year 1763, 
and Mr. Samuel Camp was ordained to the pastorate 
care of the Congregational church in the year, who still 
continues their minister. He is a man of a feeble bod- 
ily constitution, a critical scholar, a sound and ortho- 
dox divine, retentive memory, and great logical abili- 
ties. There has been in years past a number of peo- 
ple who call themselves Baptists, who showed much 
zeal in religion and met in private houses for worship. 
At the present they are much on the decline. A few 
have joined the Methodists, whose preachers, though 
very zealous, have made but little impression on the 
minds of the people in this town. Almost all the 
people attend public worship with the Congregation- 
alists or Episcopalians, and there is and has been for 
a long time past the utmost harmony and friendship 
prevailing between the several denominations of 
Christians here, who frequently worship together and 
evince the efificacy of that spirit whose leading char- 
acter is charity. A spirit of litigation has also greatly 
abated, and it is worthy of remark that at a late ses- 
sion of the County Court for this county there was 
not one man from the town during the whole term 
except one of the judges, and we never had any man 
living in the town who was a lawyer by profession. 

" The church under the care of Mr. Goodrich con- 
sists of 130 members. 

" The whole number of inhabitants belonging to 
the congregations is 850. 



I 76 HISTOR Y OF RIDGEFIELD. 

" There have been 1750 baptisms since the year 
1743, and 170 pay taxes to the Congregationalists, 

" About the time that Paine's ' Age of Reason ' 
came abroad, Infidelity presented itself to view, and 
like Milton's description of Death ' Black, it stood as 
night, fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell,' the horror 
of its features disgusted the people to such a degree 
that it has not yet had one advocate in this town. 

" The salary given Mr. Ingersoll was £ys, to Mr. 
Goodrich ^^"115 and 20 cords of wood annually. The 
list of the town 51,000 dol^. , of the first society 
22,000 doll^ Public worship is here maintained by 
tax only. 

" Schools in this town are maintained, i^* in part 
by the produce of the sale of lands in Litchfield 
County by the State, and appropriated to the school ; 
2^ by the produce of an excise duty laid on Rum and 
Tea, but the act proving unpopular was never carried 
into general execution — the money paid in by this 
town was returned and appropriated for the benefit 
of schools ; 3'^ by the 40s. on the thousand as it is 
commonly called ; 4''' by the produce of the sales of 
the western lands, and lastly, in case of deficiency, by 
a tax on the schollars. 

" The wages given to masters is from 15 to 8 dol- 
lars per month, according to number of schollars and 
the abillity of the teachers. There is taught in our 
schools Reading, writing, arithmetic, and Grammar, 
some catichising and a little manners. It has been 
remarked, that since the visiting committee have at- 
tended to their duty, our schools are under better 
regulation and our schollars make greater proficiency. 
There are a number of young people who have been 
taught in our schools who have gone into other parts 
and taught with applause. Board for children is from 
75 cents to one dollar per week, and tuition from 50 
cents to one dollar per quarter. 

" The number of poor who receive aid from the 
town do not exceed 10 or 12, of which number not 



RtDGEFlELD IN l8oo. I77 

more than 2 or 3 receive their whole support. Those 
that do are foreigners, being those mentioned before, 
one ^f which was a laborer and the other a soldier 
who wrought jet work in cedar since he has been in 
this country till he was near 80 years old, and he will 
to this day, being in the 96th year of his age, sing a 
martial air he learned in Flanders and cry ' God save 
King George.* Those who receive partial aid do 
some work, and receive some assistance from rela- 
tions and particular friends. The old soldier has been 
bid off to the lowest bidder for several years from ']s. 
6d. to 6s. per week. We have no poor that are charge- 
able but what became so by bodily imbecility. 

" We had the last year not more than five Taverns 
in town, though in years past we have had double 
that number, they are not much frequented by the in- 
habitants of the town. The grog-drinkers and Brandy 
tipplers have found a way to be supplied at a cheaper 
rate than they can obtain at licensed inns, and it is 
necessary that they should be prudent. 

" In regard to climate the height of our situation 
in the atmosphere and the descent of the land to the 
north renders the air, though cold, exceedingly salu- 
brious. Different disorders have prevailed in differ- 
ent seasons, owing to different causes. The main 
street in the town being on the highest land, or near 
it, has ever been healthy ; near the low lands and 
ponds in the skirts of the town the fever and ague 
and other fevers have prevailed. There are some in- 
stances of nervous fevers almost every year, which 
generally proves mortal. The dysentery sometimes 
visits us, but has never made great ravages. Symp- 
toms of putridity have appeared in some fevers, and 
have in some instances proved suddenly fatal, yet 
never been alarming. The small-pox has been fami- 
liar, and has in a great measure left its terrors since 
the practice of inoculation, which has been generally 
adopted by almost all the inhabitants. 3 or 400 
have had it in a season, out of which number from i 



178 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

to 2 have died, it is a very small expense. People 
here generally marry young, and are very prolific ; 
in six families a number of years since, all liviijg in 
one neighborhood, there were 75 children. 

" The number of births greatly exceed the number 
of deaths. There may have been 4CXX) since the set- 
tlement of the town. The annual number of deaths 
on an average for ten years past will not exceed 20 ; 
about I in a hundred of the inhabitants. There has 
been one instance of a man who deceased in town 102 
years old, he was born at East Chester in the State of 
New York, and came into this town in the 44*'' year, 
by name Richard Osborn. He was a very religious 
man, slender in body, had been a justice of the peace 
and deacon in the prime of life, was temperate in his 
habits and diet, but animated in his passions. There 
have been many instances of persons living over 90, 
and great numbers who survive 80, and considerably 
active. There are now living in the town 3 over 90, 
and 20 who are 80 or more. 

" In October a remarkable thunder gust, tornado, 
or hurricane, passed through the northerly part of 
this society, and the south part of Ridgebury, de- 
stroying everything in its course in this and the 
neighboring towns. Eleven buildings were nearly 
destroyed, and three or four entirely. Several dwell- 
ing-houses were damaged in a surprising manner, but 
none of the inhabitants were destroyed or very mate- 
rially injured. 

" Our elevated situation occasions the earth to be 
covered much deeper and longer with snow than the 
neighboring towns, but we are not exposed to inunda- 
tions, being so near the head of the streams. There 
have been for several years great swarms of insects 
(especially the Rosebug) moving to the northward 
and northwest — some have supposed them to be the 
Hessian Fly. For several years past a sort of cater- 
pillar worm has prevailed upon the trees, both fruit 
trees and forest trees. In the latter part of summer 



RWGEFIELD IN l8oO. I 79 

especially, the wild cherry-tree, many of the red and 
black ash trees have been destroyed in the swamps 
and low grounds, and if not checked in their progress 
by Providence threaten wide destruction. 

" Our little town has not much to boast of superior 
genius or intellects, though nature has been by no 
means niggardly to us in the distribution of her pow- 
ers. The natives of the town are undoubtedly endued 
with as good natural capacities as any people on earth, 
though few of them have any great degree of acquired 
learning. The person who happens to be most em- 
ployed by his fellow freemen in public business soon 
claims, and has the most notice. And we have many 
persons who never mounted the public stage of busi- 
ness, who only want to be called up and employed to 
exhibit tallents which by experience would shine. 

" Our various mechanics and artificers improve 
gradually in the beauty if not in the strength of their 
various manufactures. In regard to the vices of the 
people, though it might be prudent to draw a curtain 
to hide them, yet they will in one occasion or another 
become public. Robbing orchards and gardens in 
the season of fruit is the most prevalent, and other 
indulgence of fleshly appetites frequently cause re- 
pentance. The amusements commonly in vogue are 
ball, chess, quoits, and dancing. The people by fre- 
quently stirring up are attentive to their civil privi- 
leges and religious institutions. In liberality the 
people are not deficient, and have always furnished 
their quota for the public service. We have a small 
library of about 150 vols, established about 5 years 
since, and annually augmented." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

RIDGEFIELD IN 1855. 

The following letter is from the racy pen of S. G. 
Goodrich, Esq., more familiarly known as Peter Par- 
ley, and was written to his brother in the year 1855, 
while on a visit to Ridgefield, after a long absence. 
It is published in his " Recollections of a Life- 
time," but that book is owned by few, and is at pres- 
ent out of print. The letter is in Mr. Goodrich's 
best style, and will always be of interest to every 
one at all familiar with the town, as affording a true 
and life-like picture of faces and scenes now growing 
dim in the deepening shade of years. 

It was addressed to this brother, who was expect- 
ing to visit the town with him, and had set out on 
the journey, but had been taken ill and forced to re- 
turn. Mr. Goodrich it must be remembered was the 
son of Rev, Samuel Goodrich, extracts from whose 
unpublished History of Ridgefield in iBoo, we have 
given in the previous chapter. 

New York, August 20, 1855. 
Dear Brother : I greatly regret that you could not 
continue your journey with us to' Ridgefield. The 
weather was fine, and the season — crowning the earth 
with abundance — made every landscape beautiful. 
The woods which, as you know, abound along the route, 
spread their intense shade over the land, thus mitigat- 
ing the heat of the unclouded sun ; and the frequent 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1835. 181 

fields of Indian corn, with their long leaves and silken 
tassels, all fluttering in the breeze, gave a sort of holi- 
day look to the scene. Of all agricultural crops this 
is the most picturesque and the most imposing. Let 
others magniloquize upon the vineyards of France 
and the olive orchards of Italy ; I parted with these 
scenes a few weeks since, and do not hesitate to say, 
that, as a spectacle to the eye, our maize fields are 
infinitely superior. Leaving New Haven by rail, we 
reached Norwalk in forty minutes ; an hour after we 
were at Ridgefield — having journeyed three miles by 
stage, from the Danbury and Norwalk station. Thus 
we performed a journey, in less than two hours, 
which cost a day's travel in our boyhood. You can 
well comprehend that we had a good time of it. 

As I approached the town, I began to recognize lo- 
calities — roads, houses, and hills. I was in a glow of 
excitement, for it was nineteen years since I had vis- 
ited the place, and there was a mixture of the strange 
and familiar all around, which was at once pleasing 
and painful ; pleasing, because it revived many cher- 
ished memories, and painful, because it suggested 
that time is a tomb, into which man and his works 
are ever plunging, like a stream flowing on, only to 
disappear in an unfathomable gulf. The bright village 
of to-day is in fact the graveyard of the past genera- 
tion. I was here, like one risen from the dead, and 
come to look on the place which I once knew, but 
which I shall soon know no more. All seemed to me 
a kind of dream — half real and half imaginary — now 
presenting some familiar and cherished remembrance, 
and now mocking me with strange and baf^ing reve- 
lations. 

Nevertheless, all things considered, I enjoyed the 
scene. The physiognomy of the town — a swelling 
mound of hills, rising in a crescent of mountains — 
was all as I had learned it by heart in childhood. To 
the north, the bending line of Aspen Ledge ; to the 
east, the Redding Hills ; to the west, the Highlands 

9 



1 82 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

of the Hudson ; to the south, the sea of forest- 
crowned undulations, sloping down to Long Island 
Sound — all in a cool but brilliant August sun, and 
all tinted with intense verdure, presented a scene to 
me — the pilgirm returning to his birth-place — of un- 
rivalled interest. 

In general the whole country seemed embowered 
in trees — fresh and exuberant, and strongly in con- 
trast with the worn-out lands of the old countries — 
with openings here and there upon hillside and val- 
ley, consisting of green meadow, or pasture, or bloom- 
ing maize, or perhaps patches of yellow stubble, for the 
smaller grains had been already harvested. As I 
came within the precincts of the village, I could not 
but admire the fields, as well on account of their evi- 
dent richness of soil and excellent cultivation, as their 
general neatness. The town, you know, was origi- 
nally blessed or cursed, as the case may be, by a most 
abundant crop of stones. To clear the land of these 
was the Herculean task of the early settlers. For 
many generations, they usurped the soil, obstructed 
the plough, dulled the scythe, and now, after ages of 
labor, they are formed into sturdy walls, neatly laid, 
giving to the entire landscape an aspect not only of 
comfort, but refinement. In our day these were rudely 
piled up with frequent breaches — the tempting open- 
ings for vagrant sheep, and loose, yearling cattle. No 
better evidence can be afforded of a general process 
and improvement, than that most of these have been 
relaid with something of the art and nicety of mason- 
work. The Mat Olmsteads and Azor Smiths of the 
past half century, who laid stone wall for Granther 
Baldwin and General King at a dollar a rod would be 
amazed to see that the succeeding generation has 
thrown their works aside in disgust and replaced them 
by constructions having somewhat of the solidity and 
exactitude of fortifications. 

As we passed along, I observed that nearly all the 
houses which existed when we were boys, had given 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1855. I 83 

place to new, and for the most part larger, structures. 
Here and there was an original dwelling. A general 
change had passed over the land : swamps had been 
converted into meadows ; streams that sprawled across 
the path, now flowed tidily beneath stone bridges ; 
little shallow ponds — the haunts of muddling geese — 
had disappeared ; the undergrowth of woods and 
copses had been cleared away ; briers and brambles, 
once thick with fruit, or abounding in birds'-nests, or 
perchance the hiding-place of snakes, had been extir- 
pated, and corn and potatoes flourished in their stead. 
In one place, where I recollected to have unearthed a 
woodchuck, I saw a garden, and among its redolent 
pumpkins, cucumbers, and cabbages, was a row of to- 
matoes—a plant which in my early days was only 
known as a strange exotic, producing little red balls, 
which bore the enticing name of love-apples ! 

At last we came into the main street. This is the 
same — yet not the same. All the distances seemed less 
than as I had marked them in my memory. From the 
meeting-house to 'Squire Keeler's — which I thought 
to be a quarter of a mile — it is but thirty rods. At 
the same time the undulations seemed more frequent 
and abrupt. The old houses are mostly gone, and 
more sumptuous ones are in their place. A certain 
neatness and elegance have succeeded to the plain and 
primitive characteristics of other days. 

The street, on the whole, is one of the most beau- 
tiful I know of. It is more than a mile in length and 
a hundred and twenty feet in width, ornamented with 
two continuous lines of trees — elms, sycamores, and 
sugar-maples — save only here and there a brief inter- 
val. Some of these, in front of the more imposing 
houses, are truly majestic. The entire street is car- 
peted with a green sod, soft as velvet to the feet. 
The high-road runs in the middle, with a footwalk 
on either side. These passages are not paved, but are 
covered with gravel, and so neatly cut, that they ap- 
pear like pleasure-grounds. All is so bright and so 



184 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

tasteful that you might expect to see some im.perative 
sign-board, warning you, on peril of the law, not to 
tread upon the grass. Yet, as I learned, all this 
embellishment flows spontaneously from the choice 
of the people, and not from police regulations. 

The general aspect of the street, however, let me 
observe, is not sumptuous, like Hartford and New 
Haven, or even Fairfield. There is still a certain 
quaintness and primness about the place. Here and 
there you sec old respectable houses, showing the dim 
vestiges of ancient paint, while the contiguous gar- 
dens, groaning with rich fruits and vegetables, and 
the stately rows of elms in front, declare it to be 
taste, and not necessity, that thus cherishes the rev- 
erend hue of unsophisticated clapboards, and the ven- 
erable rust with which time baptizes unprotected 
shingles. There is a stillness about the town which 
lends favor to this characteristic of studied rusticity. 
There is no fast driving, no shouting, no railroad 
whistle — for you must remember that the station of 
the Danbury and Norwalk line is three miles off. Few 
people are to be seen in the streets, and those who do 
appear move with an air of leisure and tranquillity. It 
would seem dull and almost melancholy were it not 
that all around is so thrifty, so tidy, so really com- 
fortable. Houses — white or brown — wnth green win- 
dow-blinds, and embowered in lilacs and fruit-trees, 
and seen beneath the arches of wide-spreading Ameri- 
can elms — the finest of the whole elm family — can 
never be otherwise than cheerful. 

I went of course to the old Keeler tavern, for lodg- 
ings. The sign was gone, and though the house re- 
tained its ancient form, it was so neatly painted, and 
all around had such a look of repose, that I feared 
it had ceased from its ancient hospitalities. I, how- 
ever, went to the door and rapped : it was locked ! A 
bad sign, thought I. Ere long, however, a respecta- 
ble dame appeared, turned the key, and let me in. It 
was Anne Keeler converted into Mrs. Ressequie. 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1835. 1 85 

Had it been her mother, I should only have said that 
she had grown a little taller and more dignified ; as 
it was, the idea crossed my mind — • 

" Fanny was younger once than she is now !" 

But it seemed to me that her matronly graces fully 
compensated for all she might have lost of earlier pre- 
tensions. She looked at me gazingly, as if she half 
knew me. She was about inquiring my name, when 
I suggested that she might call me Smith, and begged 
her to tell me if she could give me lodgings. She 
replied that they did sometimes receive strangers, 
though they did not keep a tavern. I afterward heard 
that the family \vas rich, and that it was courtesy 
more than cash, which induced them to keep up the 
old habit of the place. I was kindly received, though 
at first as a stranger. After a short time I was found 
out, and welcomed as a friend. What fragrant butter, 
what white bread, what delicious succotash they gave 
me ! And as to the milk — it was just such as cows 
gave fifty years ago, and upon the slightest encour- 
agement positively produced an envelope of golden 
cream ! Alas ! how cows have degenerated — espe- 
cially in the great cities of the earth— in New York, 
London, or Paris — it is all the same. He who wishes 
to eat with a relish that the Astor House or Morley's 
or the Grand Hotel du Louvre cannot give, should 
go to Ridgefield, and put himself under the care of 
Mrs. Ressequie. If he be served, as I was, by her 
daughter — a thing, however, that I cannot promise — 
he may enjoy a lively and pleasant conversation while 
he discusses his meal. When you go there — as go 
you must — do not forget to order ham and eggs, for 
they are such as we ate in our childhood — not a mass 
of red leather steeped in grease, and covered with a 
tough, bluish gum — as is now the fashion in these 
things. As to blackberry and huckleberry pies, and 
similar good gifts, you will find them just such as our 
mother made fifty years ago, when these bounties of 



I 86 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

Providence were included in the prayer — " Give us 
this day our daily bread," and were a worthy answer 
to such a petition. 

Immediately after my arrival, waiting only to de- 
posit my carpet-bag in my room, I set out to visit our 
house— our former home. As I came near I saw that 
the footpath we had worn across Deacon Benedict's 
lot to shorten the distance from the street, had 
given place to a highway. I entered this, and was 
approaching the object of my visit, when I was over- 
taken by a young man, walking with a long stride. 

" Whose house is this on the hill ?" said I. 

" It is mine," was the reply. 

Indeed ; you must have a fine- view from your 
upper windows ?" 

" Yes, the view is famous, and the house itself is 
somewhat noted. It was built by Peter Parley, and 
here he lived many years !" 

By this time we had reached the place. The 
stranger, after I had looked at the premises a few mo- 
ments said, " Perhaps you would like to ascend the 
hill to the north, from which the view is very exten- 
sive ?" I gave assent, and we went thither — soon 
finding ourselves in the old Keeler lot, on the top of 
High Ridge, so familiar to our youthful rambles. 
With all the vividness of my early recollections, I 
really had no adequate idea of the beauty of the 
scene, as now presented to us. The circle of view 
was indeed less than I had imagined, for I once 
thought it immense ; but the objects were more strik- 
ing, more vividly tinted, more picturesquely dis- 
posed. Long Island Sound, which extends for sixty 
miles before the eye, except as it is hidden here and 
there by intercepting hills and trees, seems nearer 
than it did to the inexperienced vision of my child- 
hood. I could distinguish the different kinds of ves- 
sels on the water, and the island itself — stretched out 
in a long blue line beyond — presented its cloud-like 
tissues of forest, alternating with patches of yellow 




fETEk PARLEY HOUSE.— KEblDENCE OF VVM. O. SEYMOUR, Esq. 



RIDGEFIELD IN iS^S- I 87 

sandbanks along the shore. I could distinctly indi- 
cate the site of Norwalk ; and the spires peering 
through the mass of trees to the eastward, spoke sug- 
gestive of the beautiful towns and villages that line 
the northern banks of the Sound. 

West Mountain seemed nearer and less imposing 
than I had imagined, but the sea of mountains be- 
yond, terminating in the Highlands of the Hudson, 
more than fulfilled my remembrances. The scene has 
no abrupt and startling grandeur from this point of 
view, but in that kind of beauty which consists in 
blending the peace and quietude of cultivated valleys 
with the sublimity of mountains— all in the enchant- 
ment of distance, and all mantled with the vivid hues 
of summer — it equals the fairest scenes in Italy. The 
deep blue velvet which is thrown over our northern 
landscapes, differs indeed from the reddish purple of 
the Apennines, but it is in all things as poetic, as 
stimulating to the imagination, as available to the 
painter, as suggestive to the poet — to all, indeed, who 
feel and appreciate the truly beautiful. As I gazed 
upon this lovely scene, how did the memories of early 
days come back, clothed in the romance of childhood ! 
I had then no idea of distance beyond these moun- 
tains ; no conception of landscape beauty, no idea of 
picturesque sublimity — that surpassed what was fa- 
miliar to me here. Indeed, all my first measures of 
grandeur and beauty, in nature, were formed upon 
these glorious models, now before me. How often 
have I stood upon this mound, at the approach of sun- 
set, and gazed in speechless wonder upon yonder 
mountains, glowing as they were in the flood of sap- 
phire which was then poured upon them ! I pray you 
to excuse my constant reference to foreign lands ; but 
as I have just left them, it is natural to make compari- 
sons with these objects, familiar to my childhood. Let 
me say, then, that no sunsets surpass our own in 
splendor, nor have 1 seen any thing to equal them in 
brilliancy, when the retiring orb of day, as if to shed 



1 88 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

glory upon his departure, pours his rays upon the out- 
stretched fleece of clouds, and these reflect their blaze 
upon the mountain landscape, below. Then, for a 
brief space, as you know, the heavens seem a canopy 
of burnished gold, and the earth beneath a kingdom 
robed in purple velvet, and crowned with rubies and 
sapphires. In Italy, the sunset sky has its enchant- 
ments, but while these perhaps surpass the same ex- 
hibitions of nature in our climate, in respect to a cer- 
tain tranquil softness and exquisite blending of rain- 
bow hues, they are still inferior, in gorgeous splen- 
dor, to the scenes which I have been describing. 

Having taken a hasty but earnest view of the grand 
panorama of High Ridge, I returned with my guide 
to the house. I feigned thirst, and begged a glass of 
water. This was readily given, and I tasted once 
more the nectar of our " old oaken bucket." After 
glancing around, and making a few observations, I 
thanked my attendant for his courtesy — who, by the 
way, had no suspicion that I knew the place as well 
as himself — and took my leave, and returned to the 
hotel. My emotions upon thus visiting our early 
home — so full of the liveliest associations — it would 
be utterly in vain to attempt to describe. 

It was now Saturday evening, which I spent quietly 
with my host and his family, in talking over old 
times. In the morning I rose early, for it seemed a 
sin to waste such hours as these. Standing on the 
northern stoop of the Keeler tavern, I looked upon 
the beautiful landscape bounded by the Redding and 
Danbury hills, and saw the glorious march of morning 
over the scene. The weather was clear, and the 
serenity of the Sabbath was in the breadth of nature : 
even the breezy morn soon subsided into stillness, as 
if the voice of God hallowed it. The birds seemed to 
know that He rested on this seventh day. As the 
sun came up, the fluttering leaves sank into repose : 
no voice of lowing herd or baying hound broke over 
the hills. All was silent and motionless in the 



. RIDGEFIELD IN 18^5. 1 89 

street : every thing seemed to feel that solemn com- 
mand — Remember the Sabbath-day ! — save only a 
strapping Shanghai cock in Mr. Lewis's yard over the 
way, which strutted, crowed, and chased the hens — 
like a very Mormon — evidently caring for none of 
these things. 

At nine o'clock the first bell rang. The first stroke 
told me that it was not the same to which my childish 
ear was accustomed. Upon inquiry, I learned that 
on a certain Fourth of July, some ten years back, it 
was rung so merrily as to be cracked ! Had any one 
asked me who was likely to have done this, I should 

have said J . . . . H , and he indeed it was. 

With a good-will, however, quite characteristic of him, 
he caused it to be replaced by a new one, and though 
its tone is deeper, and even more melodious than the 
old one, I felt disappointed, and a shade of sadness 
came over my mind. 

On going into the meeting-house, I found it to be 
totally changed. The pulpit, instead of being at the 
west, was at the north, and the galleries had been 
transposed to suit this new arrangement. The Puri- 
tan pine color of the pews had given way to white 
paint. The good old oaken floor was covered by 
Kidderminster carpets. The choir, instead of being 
distributed into four parts, and placed on different 
sides of the gallery, was all packed together in a heap. 
Instead of Deacon Hawley for chorister, there was 
a young man who " knew not Joseph," and in lieu of 
a pitch-pipe to give the key, there was a melodeon 
to lead the choir. Instead of Mear, Old Hundred, 
Aylesbury, Montgomery, or New Durham — songs full 
of piety and pathos, and in which the whole con- 
gregation simultaneously joined — they sang modern 
tunes, whose name and measure I did not know. The 
performance was artistic and skillful, but it seemed to 
lack the unction of a hearty echo from the bosom of 
the assembly, as was the saintly custom among the 
fathers. 



IQO HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD, 

The congregation was no less changed than the 
place itself, for remember, I had not been in this 
building for five and forty years. The patriarchs of 
my boyhood — Deacon Olmstead, Deacon Benedict, 
Deacon Hawley, Granther Baldwin, 'Squire Keeler, 
Nathan Smith — were not there, nor were their types 
in their places. A few gray-haired men I saw, hav- 
ing dim and fleeting semblances to these Anakins of 
my youthful imagination, but who they were, I could 
not tell. I afterward heard that most of them were 
the companions of my early days, now grown to man- 
hood and bearing the impress of their parentage — - 
blent with vestiges of their youth — thus at once in- 
citing and baffling my curiosity. For the most part, 
however, the assembly was composed of a new genera- 
tion. In several instances I felt a strange sort of 
embarrassment as to whether the person I saw was 
the boy grown up or the papa grown down. It pro- 
duces a very odd confusion of ideas to realize in an 
old man before >'Ou, the playmate of your childhood, 
whom }'ou had forgotten for forty years, but who 
in that time has been trudging along in life, at the 
same pace as yourself. At first, every thing looked 
belittled, degenerated in dimensions. The house 
seemed small, the galleries low, the pulpit mean. 
The people appeared Lilliputian. These impressions 
soon passed off, and I began to recognize a few per- 
sons around me. William Hawley is just as you 
would have expected ; his hair white as snow ; his 
countenance mild, refined, cheerful, though marked 
with threescore and ten. Irad Hawley, though he 
has his residence in " Fifth Avenue," spends his sum- 
mers here, and begins now to look like his father the 
deacon. I thought 1 discovered Gen. King in an erect 
and martial form in one of the pews, but it proved to 
be his son Joshua — who now occupies the family man- 
sion, and worthily stands at the head of the house. 
As I came out of church, I was greeted with many 
hearty shakes of the hand, but in most cases I could 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1835. I9I 

with difficulty remember those who thus claimed re- 
cognition. 

The discourse was very clever, and thoroughly or- 
thodox, as it should be, for I found that the Confes- 
sion and Covenant of 1750 were still in force, just as 
our father left them. Even the eleventh article 
stands as it was — " You believe that there will be a 
resurrection of the dead, and a day of judgment, in 
which God will judge the world in righteousness by 
Jesus Christ ; when the righteous shall be acquitted 
and received to eternal life, and the wicked shall be 
sentenced to everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels." 

I was, I confess, not a little shocked to hear the 
account the minister gave of the church members, 
for he declared that they were full of evil thoughts 
— envy, jealousy, revenge, and all uncharitableness. 
He said he knew all about it, and could testify that 
they were a great deal worse than the world in gen- 
eral believed, or conceived them to be. Indeed, he 
affirmed that it took a real experimental Christian to 
understand how totally depraved they were. I was 
consoled at finding that this was not the settled min- 
ister — Mr. Clark — -but a missionary, accustomed to 
preach in certain lost places in that awful Babylon 
called New York. Perhaps the sermon was adapted 
to the people it was designed for, but it seemed ill 
suited to the latitude and longitude of such a 
quaint, primitive parish as Ridgefield, which is with- 
out an oyster-cellar, a livery stable, a grog-shop, a 
lawyer, a broker, a drunkard, or a profane swearer. 

This circumstance reminded me of an itinerant Bo- 
anerges, who, in his migrations, half a century ago, 
through western New York, was requested to prepare 
a sermon to be preached at the execution of an In- 
dian, who had been convicted of murder, and was 
speedily to be hung. This he complied with, but the 
convict escaped, and the ceremony did not take place. 
The preacher, however, not liking to have so good a 



192 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



thing lost, delivered it the next Sabbath to a pious 
congregation in the Western Reserve, where he 
chanced to be — stating that it was composed for a 
hanging, but as that did not take place, he would 
preach it now, presuming that it would be found ap- 
propriate to the occasion ! 

In the afternoon we had a begging sermon from a 
young converted Jew, who undertook to prove that 
his tribe was the most interesting in the world, and 
their conversion the first step toward the millennium. 
After the sermon they took up a contribution to aid 
him in getting an education ; he also sold a little 
story-book of his conversion at twelve and a half cents 
a copy, for the benefit of his converted sister, I have 
no objection to Jews, converted or unconverted, but 
I must say that my reverence for the house of God 
is such that I do not like to hear there the chink of 
copper, which generally prevails in a contribution-box. 
Even that of silver and gold has no melody for me, 
in such a place. It always reminds me painfully of 
those vulgar pigeon-dealers who were so summarily 
and so properly scourged out of the Temple. 

The old dilapidated Episcopal church, which you 
remember on the main street — a church not only 
without a bishop, but without a congregation — has 
given place to a new edifice and stated services, with 
a large and respectable body of worshippers. The 
Methodists, who were wont to assemble, fifty years 
ago, in Dr. Baker's kitchen, have put up a new house, 
white and bright, and crowded every Sabbath with 
attentive listeners. This church numbers two hun- 
dred members, and is the largest in the place. 
Though, in its origin, it seemed to thrive upon the 
outcasts of society — its people are now as respectable 
as those of any other religious society in the town. 
No longer do they choose to worship in barns, 
school-houses, and by-places ; no longer do they afTect 
leanness, long faces, and loose, uncombed hair ; no 
longer do they cherish bad grammar, low idioms, 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1 853. ig3 

and the euphony of a nasal twang, in preaching. 
Their place of worship is in good taste and good keep- 
ing : their dress is comely, and in the fashion of the 
day. The preacher is a man of education, refinement, 
and dignity, and he and the Rev. Mr, Clark — our 
father's successor — exchange pulpits, and call each 
other brother ! Has not the good time come ? 

On Monday morning I took a wide range over the 
town with Joshua King, who, by the way, is not only 
the successor, but in some things the repetition of 
his father. He represents him in person — as I have 
already intimated — and has many of his qualities. He 
has remodelled the grounds around the old family 
mansion, amplifying, and embellishing them with 
much judgment. The house itself is unchanged, ex- 
cept by paint and the introduction of certain articles 
of furniture and tasteful decorations- — testimonials 
of the proprietor's repeated visits to Europe. Here, 
being a bachelor, he has gathered some of his nieces, 
and here he receives the members of the King dynasty 
down to the third generation — all seeming to regard 
it as the Jerusalem of the family. The summer gath- 
ering is delightful, bringing hither the refinements of 
the best society of New York, Philadelphia, and other 
places. Here I spent some pleasant hours, meeting, 
of course, many of the neighbors, who came to see 
me with almost as much curiosity as if I had been the 
veritable Joyce Heth. 

In all parts of the town I was struck with the evi- 
dences of change— gentle, gradual, it is true — but still 
bespeaking the lapse of half a century. Along the 
main street, the general outline of things is the same, 
but, in detail, all is transformed, or at least modified. 
Most of the old houses have disappeared, or have 
undergone such mutations as hardly to be recog- 
nized. New and more expensive edifices are scat- 
tered here and there. If you ask who are the pro- 
prietors, you will be told — Dr. Perry, Joshua King, 
Nathan Smith — but they are not those whom we 



194 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



knew by these names — they are their sons, perhaps 
their grandsons. Master Stebbins's school-house is 
swept away, and even the pond across the road — the 
scene of many a school-day frolic — is evaporated ! I 
am constantly struck with the general desiccation 
which has passed over the place ; many of the brooks, 
which formed our winter skating and sliding places, 
have vanished. I looked in vain for the pool back 
of Deacon John Benedict's house — which I always 
imagined to be the scene of the ballad : 

" What shall we have for dinner, Mrs. Bond ? 
There is beef in the larder and ducks in the pond : 
Dill, dill, dill, dill, dilled, 
Come here and be killed !" 

Col. Bradley's house, that seemed once so awful 
and so exclusive, is now a dim, rickety, and tenantless 
edifice, for sale, with all its appurtenances, for 
twenty-five hundred dollars ! Is it not strange to see 
this once proud tenement, the subject of blight 
and decay, and that too in the midst of general pros- 
perity ? Nor is this all : it has just been the subject 
of a degrading hoax. I must tell you the story, for 
it will show you that the march of progress has in- 
vaded even Ridgefield. 

About three days since there appeared in the vil- 
lage a man claiming to be the son-in-law of George 
Law, In a mysterious manner he agreed to buy the 
Bradley estate. With equal mystery he contracted 
to purchase several other houses in the vicinity. It 
then leaked out that a grand speculation was on foot : 
there was to be a railroad through Ridgefield ; the 
town was to be turned into a city, and a hotel, re- 
sembling the Astor House, was to take the place of 
the old dilapidated shell now upon the Bradley prem- 
ises ! An electric feeling soon ran through the vil- 
lage ; speculation began to swell in the bosom of so- 
ciety. Under this impulse rocks rose, rivers doubled, 
hills mounted, valleys oscillated. This sober town 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1 835. Ig^ 

— anchored in everlasting granite, having defied the 
shock of ages — now trembled in the hysterical balance 
of trade. 

Two days passed, and the bubble burst ; the puff- 
ball was punctured ; the sham son-in-law of George 
Law was discovered to be a lawless son of a pauper of 
Danbury. All his operations were in fact a hoax. 
At twelve o'clock on Saturday night he was seized, 
and taken from his bed by an independent corps under 
Capt. Lynch. They tied him fast to a buttonwood- 
tree in the main street, called the Liberty Pole. 

" No man e'er felt the halter draw 
In good opinion of the law !" 

At all events, the prisoner deemed it a great incon- 
gruity to use an institution consecrated to the rights 
of man and the cause of freedom, for the purpose of 
depriving him of the power to seek happiness in his 
own way ; so about ten o'clock on Sunday morning — 
finding it unpleasant to be in this situation while the 
people went by, shaking their heads, on their way 
to church — he managed to get out his penknife, cut 
his cords, and make a bee-line for South Salem. 

Farther on, proceeding northward, I found that 
Dr. Baker's old house — its kitchen the cradle of 
Ridgefield Methodism — had departed, and two or 
three modern edifices were near its site. Master 
Stebbins's house — from its elevated position at the 
head of the street, seeming like the guardian genius of 
the place — still stands, venerable alike from its dun 
complexion, its antique form, and its historical remem- 
brances. Its days may be set at a hundred years, 
and hence it is an antiquity in our brief chronology. 
It almost saw the birth of Ridgefield ; it has proba- 
bly looked down upon the building of every other 
edifice in the street. It presided over the fight of 
1777. Close by, Arnold's horse was shot under him, 
and he, according to tradition, made a flying leap 
over a six-barred gate and escaped. Near its threshold 



196 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

the British cannon was planted, which sent a ball 
into the north-eastern corner-post of 'Squire Keeler's 
tavern, and which, covered up by a sliding shingle, as 
a relic too precious for the open air, is still to be seen 
there. 

The old house I found embowered in trees — some, 
primeval elms, spreading their wide branches pro- 
tectingly over the roof, stoop, and foreground; 
others — sugar maples, upright, symmetrical, and 
deeply verdant, as is the wont of these beautiful chil- 
dren of our American forest. Other trees — apples, 
pears, peaches, and plums, bending with fruit — oc- 
cupied the orchard grounds back of the house. The 
garden at the left seemed a jubilee of tomatoes, beets, 
squashes, onions, cucumbers, beans, and pumpkins. 
A vine of the latter had invaded a peach-tree, and a 
huge oval pumpkin, deeply ribbed, and now emerg- 
ing from its bronze hue into a golden yellow, swung 
aloft as if to proclaim the victory. By the porch was 
a thick clambering grapevine, presenting its purple 
bunches almost to your mouth, as you enter the door, 
I knocked, and Anne Stebbins, my former school- 
mate, let me in. She was still a maiden, in strange 
contrast to the prolific and progressive state of all 
around. She did not know me, but when I told her 
how I once saw her climb through the opening in the 
school-house wall, overhead, and suggested the blue- 
mixed hue of her stockings — she rallied, and gave me 
a hearty welcome. 

You will no doubt, in some degree, comprehend 
the feelings with which I rambled over these scenes 
of our boyhood, and you will forgive, if you cannot 
approve, the length of this random epistle. I will tres- 
pass but little further upon your patience. I must 
repeat, that the general aspect of the town, in respect 
to its roads, churches, houses, lands — all show a gen- 
eral progress in wealth, taste, and refinement. Nor is 
this advance in civilization merely external. William 
Hawley — a most competent judge, as he has been the 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1 835. 1 97 

leading merchant of the place for forty years — men- 
tioned some striking evidences of this. At the be- 
ginning of this century, most of the farmers were in 
debt, and a large part of their lands were under mort- 
gage : now not four farms in the place are thus en- 
cumbered. Then it was the custom for the men to 
spend a good deal of their time, and especially in 
winter, at the stores and taverns, in tippling and small 
gambling. This practice has ceased. Drunkenness, 
profane swearing, Sabbath-breaking, noisy night rows, 
which were common, are now almost wholly known. 
There are but two town paupers, and these are not 
indigenous. Education is better, higher in its stand- 
ard, and is nearly universal. Ideas of comfort in 
the modes of life are more elevated, the houses are 
improved, the furniture is more convenient and more 
abundant. That religion has not lost its hold on the 
conscience, is evident from the fact that three flour- 
ishing churches exist ; that the duties of patriotism 
are not forgotten, is evinced by a universal attend- 
ance at the polls on election days ; at the same time it 
is clear that religious and .political discussions have 
lost their acerbity — thus leaving the feeling of good 
neighborhood more general, and the tone of humanity 
in all things more exalted. 

Is there not encouragement, hope, in these things 
— for Ridgefield is not alone in this forward march of 
society ? It is in the general tide of prosperity — 
economical, social, and moral — but an example of 
what has been going on all over New England — per- 
haps over the whole country. We hear a great deal 
of the iniquities in the larger cities ; but society even 
there, is not worse than formerly: these places — their 
houses, streets, prisons, brothels — are exhausted, as 
by an air-pump, of all their doings, good and bad, and 
the seething mass of details is doled out day after 
day, by the penny press, to appease the hunger and 
thirst of society for excitement. Thus, what was 
once hidden is now thrown open, and seems multi- 



198 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

plied and magnified by a dozen powerful lenses — each 
making the most of it, and seeking to outdo all others 
in dressing up the show for the public taste. If you 
will make the comparison, you will see that, now, 
tipping over an omnibus, or the foundering of a ferry- 
boat, takes up more space in a newspaper than did 
six murders or a dozen conflagrations fifty years ago. 
Then the world's doings could be dispatched in a 
weekly folio of four pages, with pica type ; now 
they require forty pages of brevier, every day. Our 
population is increased — doubled, quadrupled, if you 
please — but the newspaper press has enlarged its 
functions a thousandfold. It costs more paper and 
print to determine whether a policeman of New York 
was born in England or the United States, than are 
usually consumed in telling the story of the Revolu- 
tionary war. This institution — the Press — has, in 
fact, become a microscope and a mirror — seeing all, 
magnifying all, reflecting all — until at last it requires 
a steady brain to discover in its shifting and passing 
panoramas the sober, simple truth. So far as the 
subject of which I am writing is concerned, I am 
satisfied that if our cities seem more corrupt than 
formerly, it is only in appearance and not in reality. If 
we hear more about the vices of society, it is be- 
cause, in the first place, things are more exposed to 
the public view, and in the next place, the moral 
standards are higher, and hence these evils are made 
the subject of louder and more noticeable comment. 
These obvious suggestions will solve whatever dififi- 
culty there may be in adopting my conclusions. 

But however the fact may be as to our larger cities, 
it cannot be doubted that all over New England, at 
least, there has been a quite, but earnest and steady 
march of civilization— especially within the last forty 
years. The war of 1812 was disastrous to our part 
of the country ; disastrous, I firmly believe, to our 
whole country. In New England it checked the 
natural progress of society, it impov%rished the peo- 



RIDGEFIELD IN 1835. igg 

pie, it debased their manners, it corrupted their 
hearts. Let others vaunt the glory of war ; I shall 
venture to say what I have seen and known. We 
have now had forty years of peace, and the happy 
advances I have noticed — bringing increased light 
and comfort in at every door, rich or poor, to bless 
the inhabitants — are its legitimate fruits. The inher- 
ent tendency of our New England society is to im- 
provement : give us peace, giving us tranquillity, and 
with the blessing of God we shall continue to ad- 
vance. 

You will not suppose me to say that government 
can do nothing : the prosperity of which I speak is 
in a great measure imputable to the encouragement 
given, for a series of years, to our domestic indus- 
try. When farming absorbed society, a large part of 
the year was lost, or worse than lost ; because tavern 
haunting, tippling, and gambling were the chief re- 
sources of men in the dead and dreary winter months. 
Manufactures gave profitable occupation during this 
inclement period. Formerly the markets were re- 
mote, and we all know, from the records of universal 
history, that farmers without the stimulus of ready 
markets, sink into indolence and indifference. The 
protection, the encouragement, the stimulating of any 
of our manufacturing and mechanical industry, created 
home markets in every valley, along every stream — 
thus rousing the taste, energy, and ambition of the 
farmers within reach of these pervading influences. 
Ridgefield is not, strictly speaking, a manufacturing 
town ; but the beneficent operation of the multiplying 
and diversifying of the occupations of society, has 
reached this, as it has every other town and village 
in the State, actually transforming the condition of 
the people, by increasing their wealth, multiplying 
their comforts, enlarging their minds, elevating their 
sentiments : in short, increasing their happiness. 

The importance of the fact I state — the progress 
and improvement of the country towns — is plain. 



200 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

when we consider that here, and not in the great ci- 
ties — New York, or Boston, or Philadelphia — are the 
hope, strength, and glory of our nation. Here, in the 
smaller towns and villages, are indeed the majority 
of the people, and here there is a weight of sober 
thought, just judgment, and virtuous feeling, that 
will serve as rudder and ballast to our country, what- 
ever weather may betide. 

As I have so recently travelled through some of the 
finest and most renowned portions of the European 
continent, I find myself constantly comparing the 
towns and villages which I see here with these for- 
eign lands. One thing is clear, that there are in con- 
tinental Europe no such country towns and villages as 
those of New England and some other portions of this 
country. Not only the exterior but the interior is to- 
tally different. The villages there resemble the squalid 
suburbs of a city : the people are like their houses — 
poor and subservient — narrow in intellect, feeling, 
and habits of thought. I know twenty tov/ns in 
France — having from two to ten thousand inhabit- 
ants, where, if you except the prefects, mayors, no- 
taries, and a few other persons in each place — there 
is scarcely a family that rises to the least indepen- 
dence of thought, or even a moderate elevation of char- 
acter. All the power, all the thought, all the genius, 
all the expanse of intellect, are centred at Paris. 
The blood of the country is drawn to this seat and 
centre, leaving the limbs and members cold and pulse- 
less as those of a corpse. 

How different is it in this country : the life, vigor, 
power of these United States are diffused through a 
thousand veins and arteries over the whole people, 
every limb nourished, every member invigorated ! 
New York, Philadelphia, and Boston do not give law 
to this country ; that comes from the people, the ma- 
jority of whom resemble those I have described at 
Ridgefield — farmers, mechanics, manufacturers, mer- 
chants — independent in their circumstances, and 



RIDGEFIELD IN iSsS- 20I 

sober, religious, virtuous in their habits of thought 
and conduct. I make allowance for the sinister influ- 
ence of vice, which abounds in some places ; for the 
debasing effects of demagogism in our politicians ; 
for the corruption of selfish and degrading interests, 
cast into the general current of public feeling and 
opinion. I admit that these sometimes make the na- 
tion swerve, for a time, from the path of wisdom, but 
the wandering is neither wide nor long. The pre- 
ponderating national mind is just and sound, and if 
danger comes, it will manifest its power and avert it. 

But I must close this long letter, and with it bid 
adieu to my birthplace. Farewell to Ridgefield ! Its 
soil is indeed stubborn, its climate severe, its creed 
rigid ; yet where is the landscape more smiling, the 
sky more glorious, the earth more cheering ? Where 
is society more kindly, neighborhood more equal, 
life more tranquil ? Where is the sentiment of hu- 
manity higher, life more blest ? Where else can you 
find two thousand country people, with the refine- 
ments of the city-^their farms unmortgaged, their 
speech unblemished with oaths, their breath uncon- 
taminated with alcohol, their poor-house without a 
single native pauper? 

Daniel Webster once said, jocosely, that New Hamp- 
shire is a good place to come from : it seems to me, 
in all sincerity, that Ridgefield is a good place to go 
to. Should I ever return there to end my days, this 
may be my epitaph : 

My faults forgotten, and my sins forgiven — 
Let this, my tranquil birthplace, be my grave : 

As in my youth I deem'd it nearest heaven — 
So here I give to God the breath he gave ! 

Yours ever, S. G. G. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

TRADITION AND REMINISCENCE. 

Three-quarters of a century ago there was some- 
times to be seen in the village a strange-appearing 
old woman, familiarly known as Sarah Bishop. Her 
whole appearance was to the last degree pecidiar. 
Poorly clad, her form slightly bent, her face pale 
and careworn, her brow wrinkled and nearly hidden 
by long locks of gray hair, which were allowed 
to fall carelessly over it, her step quick and agile, 
she would seem to glide rather than walk through 
the town street in quest of such articles of food as 
were absolutely indispensable to the sustenance of 
the body ; or a few crumbs of that spiritual bread 
which is no less indispensable to the life of the soul. 
She is said to have reminded one more of a visit- 
ant from the spirit-world than of a being of actual 
fiesh and blood. 

Her home — if horne'ii could be called — was situated 
on one of the south-eastern declivities of West Moun- 
tain, about four miles north-west from the village of 
Ridgefield, and just inside the town limits of Salem. 
It was formed in part by a mass of projecting rock, and 
in part by pieces of bark and limbs of trees thrown 
up by her own hands for a covering. 

No name could better apply to her manner of life 
than hermitcss. She was no mere amateur recluse 
— she was actually shut off from all society. Her 



TRADITION AND REMINISCENCE. 203 

dwelling-place was one difficult to find, and her reti- 
cence covered alike all the incidents of her past life 
and her present thought. She repelled almost with 
sternness, rather than courted, the sympathy even of 
those of her own sex. She loved solitude, she did not 
feign a preference for it. 

The tradition concerning this singular woman is 
that during the Revolutionary war she lived with her 
parents on Long Island ; but her father's house hav- 
ing been at that time burned, and she greatly 
wronged by a British officer, she left her home, and 
wandered about until she discovered this lonely spot 
and the half-formed cave, from which she could not 
only overlook the Sound, but which on a clear day 
enabled her to feast her eyes upon the very hills and 
valleys which surrounded the home of her childhood. 

A Poughkeepsie paper published in 1804 gives the 
following account of a visit to this cave and its oc- 
cupant : 

" Yesterday I went in the company of two Capt. 
Smiths of this town (N. Y.) to the mountain, to visit 
the hermitage. As you pass the southern and ele- 
vated ridge of the mountain, and begin to descend 
the southern steep, you meet with a perpendicular 
descent of a rock, in the front of which is this cave. 
At the foot of this rock is a gentle descent of rich 
and fertile ground, extending about ten rods, when 
it instantly forms a frightful precipice, descending 
half a mile to the pond called Long Pond. In the 
front of the rock, on the north, where the cave is, 
and level with the ground, there appears a large frus- 
tum of the rock, of a double fathom in size, thrown 
out by some unknown convulsion of nature, and ly- 
ing in the front of the cavity from which it was rent, 
partly enclosing the mouth, and forming a room : 



204 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

the rock is left entire above, and forms the roof of 
this humble mansion. This cavity is the habitation 
of the hermitess, in which she has passed the best of her 
years, excluded from all society ; she keeps no domes- 
tic animal, not even fowl, cat, or dog. Her little 
plantation, consisting of half an acre, is cleared of its 
wood, and reduced to grass, where she has raised a 
few peach-trees, and yearly plants a few hills of 
beans, cucumbers, and potatoes ; the whole is sur- 
rounded with a luxuriant grape-vine, which over- 
spreads the surrounding wood and is very produc- 
tive. On the opposite side of this little tenement 
is a fine fountain of excellent water ; at this fountain 
we found the wonderful woman, whose appearance 
it is a little difficult to describe : indeed, like nature 
in its first state, she was without form. Her dress 
appeared little else than one confused and shapeless 
mass of rags, patched together without any order, 
which obscured all human shape, excepting her head, 
which was clothed with a luxuriancy of lank gray 
hair depending on every side as time had formed it, 
without any covering or ornament. When she dis- 
covered our approach she exhibited the appearance of 
a wild and timid animal, she started and hastened 
to her cave, which she entered, and barricadoed the 
entrance with old shells, pulled from the decayed 
trees. We approached this humble habitation, and 
after some conversation with its inmate, obtained 
liberty to remove the pallisadoes and look in ; for 
we were not able to enter, the room being only sufifi- 
cient to accommodate one person. We saw no utensil 
either for labor or cookery, save an old pewter basin 
and a gourd shell ; no bed but the solid rock, unless 
it were a few old rags scattered here and there ; no 
bed-clothes of any kind, not the least appearance of 
food or fire. She had, indeed, a place in one corner 
of her cell, where a fire had at some time been kin- 
dled, but it did not appear there had been one for 
some months. To confirm this, a gentleman says he 



TRADITION AND REMINISCENCE. 205 

passed her cell five or six days after the great fall of 
snow in the beginning of March, that she had no fire 
then, and had not been out of her cave since the snow 
had fallen. How she subsists during the severe sea- 
son is yet a mystery ; she says she eats but little flesh 
of any kind ; in the summer she lives on berries, 
nuts, and roots. We conversed with her for some 
time, found her to be of a sound mind, a religious 
turn of thought, and entirely happy in her situation ; 
of this she has given repeated proofs by refusing to 
quit this dreary abode. She keeps a Bible with her, 
and says she takes much satisfaction and spent 
much time in reading it." 

The first piece of poetry ever published by S. G. 
Goodrich (Peter Parley) had this hermitess for its sub- 
ject. It ran as follows : 

For many a year the mountain hag 

Was a theme of village wonder, 
For she made her home in the dizzy crag, 

Where the eagle bore his plunder. 

Up the beetling cliff she was seen at night 

Like a ghost to glide away ; 
But she came again with the morning light, 

From the forest wild and gray. 

Her face was wrinkled, and passionless seem'd 
As her bosom, all blasted and dead — 

And her colorless eye like an icicle gleam'd. 
Yet no sorrow or sympathy shed. 

Her long snowy locks, as the winter drift, 

On the wind were backward cast ; 
And her shrivell'd form glided by so swift. 

You had said 'twere a ghost that pass'd. 

Her house was a cave in a giddy rock, 

That o'erhung a lonesome vale ; 
And 'twas deeply scarr'd by the lightning shock, 

And swept by the vengeful gale. 
10 



206 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

As alone on the cliff she musingly sate — 

The fox at her fingers would snap ; 
The crow would sit on her snow-white pate, 

And the rattlesnake coil in her lap. 

The night-hawk look'd down with a welcome eye, 

As he stoop'd in his airy swing ; 
And the haughty eagle hover' d so nigh 

As to fan her long locks with his wing. 

But when Winter roU'd dark his sullen wave 

From the west with gusty shock, 
Old Sarah, deserted, crept cold to her cave, 

And slept without bed in her rock. 

No fire illumined her dismal den. 

Yet a tatter'd Bible she read ; 
For she saw in the dark with a wizard ken, 

And talk'd with the troubled'dead. 

And often she mutter'd a foreign name. 

With curses too fearful to tell. 
And a tale of horror — of madness and shame — 

She told to the walls of her cell ! 

Mr. Goodrich further says of her (" Recollections of 
a Lifetime, ' ' vol i. , p. 293) : " In my rambles among the 
mountains, I have seen her passing through the forest, 
or sitting silent as a statue upon |the prostrate trunk 
of a tree, or perchance upon a stone or mound, scarcely 
to be distinguished from the inanimate objects — wood, 
earth, and rock — around her. She had a sense of 
propriety as to personal appearance, for when she vis- 
ited the town, she was decently though poorly clad ; 
when alone in the wilderness she seemed little more 
than a squalid mass of rags. My excursions frequently 
brought me within the wild precincts of her solitary 
den. Several times I have paid a visit to the spot, 
and in two instances found her at home. A place 



TRADITION AND REMINISCENCE. 207 

more desolate — in its general outline — more absolutely 
given up to the wildness of nature, it is impossible to 
conceive. Her cave was a hollow in the rock, about 
six feet square. Except a few rags and an old basin, 
it was without furniture — her bed being the floor of 
the cave, and her pillow a projecting point of the 
rock. It was entered by a natural door about three 
feet wide and four feet high, and was closed in severe 
weather only by pieces of bark. At a distance of a 
few feet was a cleft, where she kept a supply of roots 
and nuts, which she gathered, and the food that was 
given her. She was reputed to have a secret depos- 
itory, where she kept a quantity of antique dresses, 
several of them of rich silks, and apparently suited to 
fashionable life : though I think this was an exaggera- 
tion. At a little distance down the ledge, there was a 
fine spring of water, in the vicinity of which she was 
often found in fair weather. 

" There was no attempt, either in or around the 
spot, to bestow upon it an air of convenience or com- 
fort. A small space of cleared ground was occupied 
by a few thriftless peach-trees, and in summer a patch 
of starvelling beans, cucumbers, and potatoes. Up two 
or three of the adjacent forest-trees there clambered 
luxuriant grape-vines, highly productive in their sea- 
son. With the exception of these feeble marks of cul- 
tivation, all was left ghastly and savage as nature made 
it. The trees, standing upon the top of the cliff, and 
exposed to the shock of the tempest, were bent, and 
stooping toward the valley — their limbs contorted, and 
their roots clinging, as with an agonizing grasp, into 
the rifts of the rocks upon which they stood. Many 
of them were hoary with age, and hollow with decay ; 



2o8 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

others were stripped of their leaves by the blasts, and 
others still, grooved and splintered by the lightning. 
The valley below, enriched with the decay of centu- 
ries, and fed with moisture from the surrounding hills, 
was a wild paradise of towering oaks, and other giants 
of the vegetable kingdom, with a rank undergrowth of 
tangled shrubs. In the distance, to the east, the 
gathered streams spread out into a beautiful expanse 
of water called Long Pond. 

" A place at once so secluded and so wild was, of 
course, the chosen haunt of birds, beasts, and rep- 
tiles. The eagle built her nest and reared her young 
in the clefts of the rocks ; foxes found shelter in the 
caverns, and serpents revelled alike in the dry hollows 
of the cliffs and the dank recesses of the valley. The 
hermitess had made companionship with these brute 
tenants of the wood. The birds had become so 
familiar with her, that they seemed to heed her almost 
as little as if she had been a stone. The fox fearlessly 
pursued his hunt and his gambols in her presence. 
The rattlesnake hushed his monitory signal as he ap- 
proached her. Such things, at least, were entertained 
by the popular belief. It was said, indeed, that she 
had domesticated a particular rattlesnake, and that he 
paid her daily visits. She was accustomed — so said 
the legend — to bring him milk from the villages, 
which he devoured with great relish. 

" During the winter she was confined for several 
months to her cell. At that period she lived upon 
roots and nuts, which she had laid in for the season. 
She had no fire, and, deserted even by her brute com- 
panions, she was absolutely alone, save that she 
seemed to hold communion with the invisible world. 



TRADITION AND REMINISCENCE. 2O9 

She appeared to have no sense of solitude, no weari- 
ness at the slow lapse of days and months : night had 
no darkness, the tempest no terror, winter no deso- 
lation, for her. When spring returned, she came 
down from her mountain, a mere shadow — each year 
her form more bent, her limbs more thin and wasted, 
her hair more blanched, her eye more colorless." 

In the year 18 10 this strange life ended, and ended 
in a manner sadly in keeping with all which had pre- 
ceded it. 

One stormy night she left the house of a Mr. Wil- 
son, living where Mr. Timothy Jones now lives, some 
two miles away, to return by a nearer route across the 
fields to her own wretched den. A few days after, 
much anxiety having been felt as to her condition, 
search was made for her. Not finding her in the 
cave, those in search started down across the fields 
towards the house at which she had been last seen. 
They had proceeded but a little way before they dis- 
covered her lifeless body literally wedged in between 
masses of rocks. She had never reached her home. 
The things which the kind neighbor had given hef 
were with her. In attempting to climb the steep and 
rocky hill-side she had missed her footing and per- 
ished. 

The neighbors and friends took up her body, and 
having prepared it for the grave, buried it in the old 
burying-ground connected with the Episcopal Church, 
North Salem. No stone marks the spot where her 
body rests, but the old cave, still to be seen in the 
mountain-side, will keep fresh and green her memory, 
while that of many who lived in affluence and died 
greatly lamented shall have perished. 



2IO HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

During the war of i8i2ZinaSt. John, Major Bough- 
ton, Adniram Keeler, Josiah Dykeman, and several 
others were drafted into the government service and 
stationed at New London, Ct. 

While there they were visited by an old lady from 
Ridgebury (widow of William Forrester, Esq.), fami- 
liarly called Aunt Sarah. She was partially de- 
ranged, and on this occasion had conceived the idea 
that our soldiers were starving at their posts. Un- 
beknown to her relatives, she donned her late hus- 
band's military coat and hat, obtained a young horse 
but recently bitted, and securing a cheese and a ham 
in a bag, placed it on the colt, and, without a saddle, 
rode to New London, a distance of over seventy miles. 
Upon her arrival there she at once rode into camp, 
where she found our boys, and treated them to the 
contents of the bag. The officers, comprehending her 
situation, treated her kindly, and on the following day 
returned her to her home. 



Mrs. Sarah Jewett, now in her ninety-second year, 
has in her possession a copper kettle, which is said to 
have been brought to this country in the Mayflower. 
In this kettle the first cup of tea was made in the town. 
There is a very amusing tradition concerning this first 
tea-making. It was in an old house, which stood im- 
mediately back of the residence of Mr. Howard King, 
then owned and occupied by Rev. Jonathan Ingersoll, 
that this first attempt at tea-drinking was made. The 
tea was placed in the kettle, and a sufficient quantity 
of water added ; when properly boiled, the water was 
thrown away and the tea-leaves were eaten. 



TRADITION AND REMINISCENCE. 2 I I 

The Indian sachem Katoonah, from whom the town 
tract was originally purchased, lies buried beside his 
favorite wife on the heights of Cantitoe (Katoonah's 
own land), where two immense boulders are shown as 
marking the spot. Cantitoe is in Bedford, Westchester 
County, N. Y., and the site of this chieftain's sup- 
posed grave is on the farm of Mr. Pillow. The origi- 
nal deeds of the town of Bedford show that much of 
that land, as well as of towns south, was purchased of 
Katoonah. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE RFXORD OF THE TOWN IN THE WAR OF THE 
REBELLION. 

The roar of the first gun fired on Sumter seemed to 
awaken echoes in every village and hamlet in New 
England. It was a shot fired at constitutional liberty 
and at the equal rights of man ; a blow struck at the 
best government and the best institutions on earth ; 
an assassin's knife aimed at the very heart of the Re- 
public. 

New England felt this in every part. The operatives 
in her workshops and factories ; the merchant and 
tradesman in their stores and counting-rooms ; the 
professor and student in her seminaries of learning, all 
felt the shock, and hastened to express their loyalty, 
and if necessary to sacrifice every thing that men hold 
dear rather than tamely submit to usurpation and 
wrong. 

Ridgefield was among the first towns in the State 
to take decisive action in the matter. Public meetings 
were called, sentiments of purest loyalty expressed, 
and volunteers forwarded to the national capital. 
The following minutes, taken from the Town Records, 
will indicate the spirit of loyalty everywhere mani- 
fested. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 2 I 



SPECIAL TOWN MEETING. 

' ' The Inhabitants of the Town of Ridgfield are here- 
by notified and warned that a special Town Meeting 
will be held at the Town-House, in said Ridgefield, on 
Saturday the fourth (4*''} day of May 1861, at 3 
o'clock afternoon, for the purpose of making provision 
for the families of those persons in said Town who may 
volunteer their services to the United States ; to lay 
a tax, if necessary ; to give instructions to the Select- 
men, if necessary ; and to make any appropriations ; 
and to take any other steps proper and necessary to 
fully carry out the purposes aforesaid. 

" Ebenezer Hawley, I 

" Amos SxMITH, v Select nun. 

" Smith Keeler, ) 

"Ridgefield, April 26, 1S61." 

" At a Special Town Meeting, holden May 4, 1861, 
in pursuance of the foregoing notice, William Lee 
was appointed Moderator, and Henry Smith, 2'^, 
Clerk, pro tcni. 

"On motion, it was voted that the following Pre- 
amble and Resolutions be, and they are hereby, 
adopted, viz : 

" ' Whereas, The people of the United States, within 
the Union, and under their own Government, have 
for three quarters of a century enjoyed an unparal- 
leled prosperity and progress, for the continuance of 
which the Constitution of the United States is the 
perpetual guaranty ; and 

Whereas, An armed rebellion now threatens the 
very existence of that Government, seizing the forts, 
arsenals, navy-yards, vessels, and hospitals which 



214 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

belong to the people of the United States, and con- 
summating its crime by firing upon the flag of the 
nation, the glorious symbol of our unity, our liberty, 
and our general welfare ; 

' Resolved, That it was the duty of all persons in the 
country to resort to the peaceful and legal means of 
redress provided by the Constitution, and that when, 
instead of so doing, they took up arms and organized 
resistance to the Government of the country, they, 
struck at the very heart of organized civil society. 

''' Resolved, That the Government of the United 
States has properly sought by every kind of forbear- 
ance to avoid the sad necessity of asserting its author- 
ity by force of arms ; but that it is at length manifest 
to the whole world that it must subdue or be subdued. 

' Resolved, That in forcibly maintaining that author- 
ity everywhere within its dominions, and at every cost, 
the Government wages no war of conquest, but simply 
does its duty, expecting every citizen to do the 
same, and to take care that the doom of the rebels 
and traitors, who would ruin the most beneficent gov- 
ernment in the world, and so destroy the hope of free 
popular institutions forever, shall be swift, sudden, 
and overwhelming. 

'Resolved, That when the supreme authority of the 
Government of the people of the United States shall 
have been completely established, we, with all other 
good citizens, will cheerfully co-operate in any meas- 
ures that may be taken in accordance with the Consti- 
tution fully to consider and lawfully to redress all 
grievances that may anywhere be shown to exist, 
yielding ourselves, and expecting all others to yield to 
the will of the whole people constitutionally expressed. 
" 'Resolved, That we, loyal citizens of Ridgefield, 
hereby before God and men, take the oath of fidelity to 
the sacred flag of our country, and to the cause of pop- 
ular liberty and constitutional government which 
that flag represents, pledging ourselves to each other 
that by the love we bear our native land, and our un- 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 215 

faltering faith in the principles of our government, we 
will transmit to our children, unimpaired, the great 
heritage of blessings we have received from our 
fathers.' 

" On motion, it was voted that an appropriation 
be made from the treasury of the Town of Ridgefield 
for the support of the families of the residents of this 
town who shall volunteer in accordance with the calls 
of the President of the United States, in the present 
national troubles ; and the appropriation shall be ex- 
pended as follows, viz. : to the wife of each volunteer 
the sum of two dollars per week, and fifty cents per 
w^eek for each child that such volunteer may have 
dependent on him for support under twelve years of 
age, ^kvhich shall be paid weekly ; and such allowance 
shall continue weekly during the term of his voluntary 
enlistment. 

Voted, That a Committee of Three be appointed 
to draw all orders from the Treasury for the support 
of the families of those persons who may enlist in ser- 
vice of their country, in the present troubles, accord- 
ing to the foregoing resolutions. 

" Voted, That Samuel M. Smith, William Lee, and 
William W. Beers, be, and they are hereby appointed 
said Committee. 

" On motion adjourned. 

" Attest, Henry Smith, 2^ Clerk, pro tern.'' 

TOWN MEETING. 

" By request of many of the Inhabitants of the 
Town of Ridgefield, a Special Town Meeting will be 
held at the Town-House, in said Ridgefield, on Satur- 



2l6 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD, 

day the 9"' day of the present August, at 3 o'clock in 
the afternoon, to take into consideration the propriety 
of paying a Town Bounty to all persons who may en- 
list before the 20"' day of the present August, under 
the President's last call for three hundred thousand 
men, and to do other business necessary and legal. 
" Ebenezer Hawley, j 
"Amos Smith, \ Selectmen. 

" Smith Keeler, ) 

" RiDGF.FIELU, August I, 1862." 

" At a Special Town Meeting, holden August 9''', 
1862, in pursuance of the foregoing notice, William 
Lee was appointed Moderator. 

" On motion, it was voted that the following Resolu- 
tion be adopted : ^ 

" ' Resolved, That the Town of Ridgefield authorize 
the Selectmen of said town to pay each volunteer 
who has enlisted under the present calls, or who shall 
enlist under said calls, the sum of two hundred dollars 
as bounty for the support of their families, if they have 
any ; if single, to be paid to the order of the volunteer, 
to be drawn by each volunteer in monthly instalments of 
twenty-five dollars, with the understanding that each 
enlistment thus made, shall go to relieve the good old 
Town of Ridgefield from a draft : Provided that the 
number is enlisted by the 15^'' of this present August ; 
and that after the requisite number to prevent a draft is 
raised, the said bounty shall not be paid. 

" ' I'^oted, That the Selectmen pay the same from 
the Treasury, or if the amount shall not be in the hands 
of the Treasurer, the Selectmen be authorized to bor- 
row the same. 

" ' Voted, That whenever a volunteer shall present to 
the Selectmen a certificate of his having been accepted 
and sworn into the service of the United States in 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 21 7 

some one of the Connecticut regiments, they shall draw 
orders on the Town Treasurer for the payment of the 
bounty just voted.' 

" On motion, adjourned. 

''Attest, L. H. Bailey, Toivn Clerk.'' 

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING. 

" Upon a petition of Jesse L. Benedict and sundry 
others, a special Town Meeting will be held at the 
Town-House, in Ridgefield, on Saturday the 6*'' inst., at 
2 of the clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of mak- 
ing arrangements for filling the quota of this town's 
soldiers, by giving the same bounty to those that may 
volunteer, as has been given to those that have already 
volunteered ; or in case a draft shall be made, to vote 
a bounty to those that may be drafted. 
" Ebenezer Hawley, \ 
"Amos Smith, \ Selectmen.' 

" Smith Keeler, ) 

"Ridgefield, September i, 1862." 

" At a Special Town Meeting, holden] September 6, 
1862, in pursuance of the foregoing notice, Ebenezer 
Hawley was appointed Moderator. 

"On motion, it was voted that the following Pre- 
amble and Resolutions be adopted : 

" ' Whereas, The Town of Ridgefield in Special Town 
Meeting, held on the 9*'' day of August last, voted a 
bounty of two hundred dollars to each person who had 
already enlisted, or should before the 15*'' day of 
August ; and the time having been extended to the 
10'^'' day of September inst., therefore, 

"' Resolved, That the Selectmen be, and they are 
hereby authorized to pay to any person who shall en- 
list before the 10''' day of the present month, or in 



2l8 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

case of an extension of time, then said bounty to con- 
form thereto, the sum of two hundred dollars, in 
monthly instalments of twenty-five dollars per month, 
upon the presentation of the proper vouchers that 
they have been accepted by the proper authorities ; 
providing said bounty shall not be paid to any person 
after seventy-seven volunteers have been enlisted, 
which is the number required by the said town. 

" ' WJicrcas, The Town of Ridgefield did, on the 9"' 
day of August last, in Special Town Meeting, vote a 
bounty of two hundred dollars to such volunteers as 
had already enlisted, or such as might thereafter enlist, 
until the quota for Ridgefield under the last call of 
the President of the United States for six hundred 
thousand men should be filled, and 

" ' Whereas, A vote was also passed authorizing the 
Selectmen to borrow the money to pay said bounties, 
and believing said vote did not convey sufficient au- 
thority to said Selectmen to borrow the necessary 
amount of money ; therefore, 

" 'Resolved, That the Selectmen be, and are hereby 
requested to call another Town Meeting, to authorize 
the Town Treasurer to borrow from time to time, upon 
the credit of the Town, a sum not exceeding sixteen 
thousand dollars, for the purpose of paying the bounty 
that may have been voted ; and also to ratify and con- 
firm the action of the Selectmen, in so far as they 
have borrowed money upon the credit of the town, 
and have paid a portion or portions of bounties hereto- 
fore made.' 

" On motion adjourned. 

"Attest, L. H. Bailey, Totun Clerk." 



SPECIAL TOWN MEETING. 

" A Special Town Meeting will beheld at the Town- 
House, in Ridgefield, on Saturday, Sept. 13^'', at 3 
o'clock P.M., for the purpose of authorizing the Town 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 219 

Treasurer to borrow upon the credit of the town a 
sum not exceeding sixteen thousand dollars, for the 
purpose of paying the bounties that may have been 
voted ; and also to ratify and confirm the action of the 
Selectmen, in so far as they have borrowed money 
upon the credit of the town. 

" Ebenezer Hawley, ) 

"Amos Smith, V Selectmen. 

" Smith Keeler, ) 

" RiDGEFiELD, September 8, 1862." 

" At a Special Town Meeting, holden September 13"' 
1862, in pursuance of the foregoing notice, William 
Lee was appointed Moderator. 

" On motion, it was voted that the following Reso- 
lutions be adopted : 

" ' Resolved, That the Town Treasurer be, and he 
hereby is authorized to borrow, on the credit of the 
town, the sum of fifteen thousand four hundred dol- 
lars, on the best terms possible, for the purpose of 
paying the bounties voted to volunteers at the Special 
Town Meetings of August 9*'' and September 6*\ 1862. 

" ' Resolved, That the action of the Selectmen in bor- 
rowing money to pay the first instalment of town 
bounty to volunteers be, and hereby is legalized and 
ratified by the town. 

" ' Resolved, That the several votes passed at the 
Special Town Meetings of August 9^'' and September 6"', 
in relation to bounties to volunteers from the town, 
to fill the quota for the six hundred thousand volun- 
teers, be, and the same is hereby ratified and con- 
firmed.' 

" On motion adjourned. 

"Attest, L. H. Bailey, Tozvn Clerk." 

" At a Special Town Meeting of the Electors, held 



2 20 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

at the Town-House on Saturday the 7th of February, 
1863, the following resolution was passed : 

'Resolved, That a Committee of Seven be appoint- 
ed (the Selectmen and Town Treasurer be a part of 
said Committee) to equalize the payment of the war 
debt of the Town of Ridgefield, and report at an ad- 
journed meeting the best way to liquidate the same. 

Voted, That Messrs Lewis H. Bailey, Hiram K. 
Scott, and George Keeler, Esqs. , be that Committee.' 

" The meeting was adjourned to Saturday the 28th 
inst." 

" At a meeting of the Legal Voters, held pursuant to 
adjournment on Saturday the 28th day of February, 
1863, the meeting was called to order by Ebenezer 
Hawley, Moderator. 

" The Committee appointed at the meeting of Feb- 
ruary 7, 1863, presented their report. 

" It was moved and seconded that the Report of 
the Committee be accepted, and was carried in the 
affirmative. 

" Moved and seconded that the Resolutions recom- 
mended by the Committee be adopted. 

" Pending the discussion on the adoption of the 
Resolutions, it was moved and seconded that the fol- 
lowinsf Resolutions be substituted for the Resolutions 
of the Committee, viz. : 

" 'Resolved, That under and by authority of an Act 
of the General Assembly of this State, passed Decem- 
ber Session A.D. 1862, entitled " An Act to authorize 
Towns, Cities, and Boroughs to issue Bonds or other 
Obligations for War Purposes," to which Act reference 
is here had, 

" 'The Town of Ridgefield hereby authorizes and di- 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 221 

rects the issue of Bonds in payment and liquidation of 
its expenses and liabilities incurred solely for the pur- 
poses named in said Act, to an amount not exceeding 
in the whole the sum of sixteen thousand dollars, in 
sums not less than fifty dollars nor greater than five 
hundred dollars ; all to bear date the first day of July, 
1863, and made payable to order or bearer, at the 
option of the purchasers, with interest at the rate of 
six per cent per annum, and made payable and redeem- 
able by the Treasurer of the Town of Ridgeficld, at 
his ofifice in said town, as follows, viz : The interest on 
the whole amount to be payable on the first day of 
July, 1864, and thereafter the interest to be paid by the 
said Treasurer on the succeeding first day of July in 
each year, on all of said Bonds unpaid, until the whole 
of principal and interest is paid ; and five hundred 
dollars of the principal to be paid on the first day of 
July, 1864; six hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 

1873 
1874 

1875 
1876 



seven hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
eight hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
nine hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
one thousand dollars on the first day of July, 
eleven hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
twelve hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
thirteen hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
fourteen hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
fifteen hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
sixteen hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
seventeen hundred dollars on the first day of July, 
and seventeen hundred dollars on the first day 
of July, 1877. 

'The Bonds shall specify the amount of interest, 
when and where payable, and shall be signed by the 
First Selectman, and countersigned by the Town 
Treasurer, and registered upon the Town Records 
by the Town Clerk ; and when so executed, signed, 
countersigned, registered and delivered, shall be valid 
and of obligatory force and effect upon said town. 
''' Resolved, That hereafter, and until said Bonds 



222 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

are paid or redeemed, according to their tenor, the 
Treasurer of said town is hereby directed, from year 
to year, to reserve from the tax or income of said town, 
on the first day of July in each year, such sum as shall 
be necessary and suf^cient to pay the interest then 
due on all of such Bonds then outstanding ; and also 
such sum of the principal as shall fall due on the 
said first day of July, until the whole of said Bonds 
and interest are paid and redeemed ; and that this 
vote shall be printed upon the margin of each of said 
Bonds, and made and become, a part and condition of 
the contract between said town, and each bond- 
holder. 

" 'Resolved, That the Town Treasurer shall have the 
charge of said Bonds ; and with the advice and assist- 
ance of the Selectmen shall prepare the proper and 
necessary blanks ; and said Town Treasurer shall see 
to the proper execution and registering thereof, and 
with the assistance of the Selectmen shall sell and 
deliver the same to the best advantage, at not less 
than par value ; and said Treasurer shall make a reg- 
ister of all such Bonds, showing the amount and 
number of each Bond executed and sold, the date of 
sale, and the name of purchaser, which register shall 
be left with the Town Clerk, and when the Treasurer 
shall pay any of said Bonds, he shall cancel the same 
by erasing the signatures thereon, and shall also write 
upon the face of said Bonds cancelled, this day of 

, and sign the same, and note such cancella- 
tion in said register, and report the same to the Town 
Clerk ; and said Clerk shall thereupon enter upon the 
Town Records such cancellation : Provided that be- 
fore said Town Treasurer shall have the charge and 
custody of said Bonds he shall give good and sufifi- 
cient bond, with surety, to the acceptance of the 
Selectmen of said town, conditioned for the faithful 
discharge of said trust ; and said Selectmen and 
Town Treasurer shall attach interest coupons to said 
Bonds. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 223 

'Resolved, That the Town Treasurer shall apply 
the avails of said Bonds, in payment of expenses or lia- 
bilities incurred for any matter connected with, or 
growing out of the raising, equipment, or subsistence 
of volunteers or militia, to serve in the armies of the 
United States, as provided in said Act, and for no 
other purpose whatsoever.' 

" And the resolutions so offered and substituted 
were declared by the Moderator to be carried in the 
aflfirmative. 

" At a Special Town Meeting of the Electors, held 
pursuant to notice, at the Town-House, March 7, 1863, 
it was 

' Voted, That the Resolutions passed at an ad- 
journed Town Meeting, holden February 28, 1863, in re- 
lation to issuing of War Bonds, be reconsidered in all 
that relates to the date of said Bonds, the time when 
the interest and the several payments shall be made, 
and reserving of tax or income. 

" ' Voted, That the said Resolutions be so amended 
as to make said Bonds all bear date April r\ 1863 ; 
that the interest on the whole amount be paid on the 
first day of October, 1863, and the interest payable 
thereafter on all of said Bonds unpaid on the first day 
of October in each succeeding year ; until the whole 
amount is paid ; and the first payment of five hun- 
dred dollars to be made October i'\ 1864 ; and the 
several payments to be made on the first day of 
October in each year, instead of the first day of July ; 
also the appropriation from tax or income. 

Voted, That this meeting be now adjourned.' 
"Attest, Henry Smith, 2'', To-wn Clerk.'" 

" At a Special Town Meeting of the Electors, held 
at the Town-House, July 25, 1863, the following Reso- 
lution was offered and adopted ; 



2 24 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

" ' Resolved, That the Treasurer of the Town of 
Ridgefield shall pay to the proper ofificers appointed 
to receive the same, the sum of three hundred dollars 
for each person who shall be drafted in accordance 
with the Act entitled ' An Act for enrolling and call- 
ing out the National Forces, and for other Purposes.' 

" The meeting then adjourned. 

" Henry Smith, 2^ Town Clerk.'' 

" At a special Town Meeting, held at the Town- 
House, August 7, 1863, the following Resolutions were 
offered and adopted : 

" 'Resolved, That the Town Treasurer be, and he 
hereby is authorized and directed to pay out of the 
Town Treasury the sum of three hundred dollars to 
each person who may be drafted, accepted, and mus- 
tered into the United States service, under the la'e 
call for three hundred thousand men by the President 
of the United States, for three years, or during the 
war ; or to the drafted man who shall furnish an able- 
bodied substitute, who shall be accepted and mustered 
into the United States service. 

' ' ' looted. That the Selectmen and Town Treasurer be, 
and they hereby are authorized and instructed to bor- 
row, upon the credit of the town, a sum of money 
suf^cient to pay the said three hundred dollars to 
each of said persons who may comply with the above 
vote.' 

" The meeting then adjourned. 

" Henry SxMitii, 2'', Totvn Clerk." 

" At a Special Town Meeting, held October 20, 1863, 
the following Resolutions were offered and adopted : 

" ' Voted, That the Town Treasurer be, and he hereby 
is authorized and directed to pay out of the Town Treas- 
ury the sum of three hundred dollars to each person 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 225 

who has been drafted and accepted into the United 
States service, under the late caU for three hundred 
thousand men by the President of the United States 
for three years, or during the war ; or to the drafted 
man who shaU furnish an able-bodied substitute who 
shall be accepted into the United States service. 

" ' Voted, That the Selectmen and Town Treasurer be, 
and they are hereby authorized and instructed to bor- 
row, upon the credit of the town, a sum of money suffi- 
cient to pay the said three hundred dollars to each of 
said persons who may comply with the above vote. 

" ' Voted, That all votes taken at previous meetings 
conflicting with the above votes are hereby declared to 
be null and void. 

" ' Voted, That Ebenezer Hawley and Ebenezer Jones 
be, and they hereby are appointed a Committee to at- 
tend at Bridgeport, on Wednesday or Thursday of the 
present week (as they may deem best), and pay to all 
such persons as have been drafted and accepted, or 
who have or may furnish a substitute who has or may 
be accepted, a sum of money not exceeding three 
hundred dollars, in accordance with the vote passed 
this day.' 

" On motion adjourned. 

"Attest, A. N. Thomas, Toivu Clerk." 

"At a Special Town Meeting, held pursuant to no- 
tice, at the Town-House, January 2, 1864, the follow- 
ing Resolutions were offered and adopted : 

" 'Resolved, That this town appropriate a sum not ex- 
ceeding two thousand dollars, to defray the expenses 
of Ebenezer Hawley, recruiting officer for this town, 
in filling our quota under the last call of the President. 
' Resolved, Th^X the Selectmen of the town be author- 
ized to borrow, on the credit of the town, a sufficient 
sum for the above purpose, provided there are not 
sufficient funds in the Town Treasury.' 

"Attest, A. N. Thomas, Toivn Clerk." 



226 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



" NOTICE. 

" The Legal Electors of the Town of Ridgefield are 
hereby warned that a Special Town Meeting will be 
held at the Town- House, in said Ridgefield, on Satur- 
day, August 6, 1864, at 2 o'clock P.M., for the purpose 
of taking such action as may be deemed expedient and 
necessary to encourage volunteering, and filling the 
quota of this town under the last call of the President 
of the United States for five hundred thousand men ; 
and to make an appropriation from the town Treasury 
of such sum of money as may be necessary to pay 
such as may volunteer or be drafted in case said quota 
is not filled by volunteering ; and also to appoint a re- 
cruiting agent, or agents, for the town ; also, to author- 
ize the Selectmen and Town Treasurer to borrow, 
upon the credit of the town, by Bonds or otherwise, a 
suf^cient sum of money to defray the expense of pro- 
curing the requisite number of men to fill said call. 

" Ebenezer Hawley, ) 

" David C. Keeler, \ Selectmen. 

" Daniel Hunt, ) 

" Ridgefield, July 29, 1866." 

" At a Special Town Meeting of the Legal Voters of 
the Town of Ridgefield, held at the Town-House on 
Saturday, August 6, 1864, in pursuance of the above 
call, Samuel Scott was appointed by the Selectmen 
and Town Clerk Moderator of said meeting. 

" On motion of Henry Smith, Esq., the following 
Resolutions were offered : 

''' Resolved, That in order to fill the quota of the 
Town of Ridgefield, under the last call of the President 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 22 "J 

of the United States for five hundred thousand men, 
this town hereby appropriate from the Treasury of the 
town a sum of money not exceeding nineteen thousand 
dollars, for the purpose of defraying the expenses at- 
tending the filling of said quota, and to pay volun- 
teers who have already enlisted under this present 
call, and who shall apply to the credit of the town, 
or all who may hereafter enlist under this call, and 
in case the requisite number is not obtained by volun- 
teering, then to pay to drafted men (in case there be 
such), w4io may be mustered into the service of the 
United States, a sum like unto that which may be 
paid to volunteers, and also to pay a like sum of 
money to such person or persons as shall furnish a 
recruit who shall be mustered into the United States 
service, said recruit to apply to the quota of this 
town, and shall apply to the credit of such person or 
persons as shall furnish such substitute recruit, upon 
the proper vouchers being presented to the Treasurer 
of said town. 

"■^ Resolved J That H. K. Scott, L. H. Bailey, and 
John D. Hurlbutt be, and hereby are appointed a Com- 
mittee to procure volunteers and substitutes to fill the 
quota of the said town, and said committee are hereby 
authorized to pay to each volunteer, substitute, re- 
cruit, or drafted man, or his substitute, who shall be 
mustered into the United States service, a sum of 
money not exceeding five hundred dollars ; and said 
Committee are hereby authorized and empowered to 
draw orders on the Treasurer of the town for money 
sufficient for that purpose ; and the Town Treasurer 
is hereby instructed and directed to pay out of the 
Treasury such sums as may be drawn for by said 
Committee ; providing always that such sums in the 
aggregate shall not exceed the said sum of nineteen 
thousand dollars. 

" ^Resolved, That the Town Treasurer and Selectmen 
of this town be, and they hereby are authorized and 
directed to borrow, upon the credit of the town, in 



228 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

such manner as they m.ay deem best, a sum of money 
not exceeding nineteen thousand dollars, for the pur- 
pose of placing the funds in the Treasury, to pay the 
amount authorized in the foregoing resolutions.' 

"The above resolutions, on motion, were adopted. 

" 'Moved and adopted, That the Selectmen and Town 
Treasurer be an Advisory Committee with and for the 
above appointed Committee. 

" 'Moved, That the second resolution be reconsidered. 
Carried. 

" 'Moved, That after the words ' drafted man,' the 
words ' or his substitute,' be inserted, and then ac- 
cepted.' Carried. 

" The following Resolutions were then offered : 

" 'Resolved, That any person or persons furnishing a 
substitute recruit, shall furnish to the Recruiting Com- 
mittee satisfactory evidence of the amount that they 
have actually paid for such substitute, and shall re- 
ceive only such sum as actually expended ; providing 
always that such sum shall not exceed five hundred 
dollars. 

" 'Resolved, That the Committee just appointed shall 
draw from the enrolled subjects in the town as many 
names as they shall furnish substitutes ; and such 
names so drawn shall be exempt for three years ; pro- 
viding such person whose name so drawn is a military 
subject ; and the town shall pay the travelling ex- 
penses of those who may be exempted by the surgeon. 

"'The foregoing Resolutions were, on motion, 
adopted : 

" 'Moved, That the Committee use discretionary 
power in regard to the draft, as to when, and how, and 
what number to draw at a time. ' Carried. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 229 

"The meeting, on motion, then adjourned. 

"Attest, Albert N. Thomas, Town Clerk.'' 

" Notice is hereby given that a Special Town Meet- 
ing will be held at the Town-House, in Ridgefield, 
on Saturday, the loth inst., at i o'clock P.M., for the 
purpose of appointing an agent or agents to fill, in the 
best possible manner, the quota of men that may be 
called for by the President of the United States from 
the Town of Ridgefield, and to make the necessary 
appropriations from the Treasury of said town to de- 
fray the expenses of filling said quota. 

"William Lee, 

"Timothy Jones, 

"William W. Beers, 1- Selectmen. 

" Same S. St. John, 

" George Boughton, 

"Ridgefield, Ct., Dec. 5, 1864." 

"At a Special Town Meeting of the Legal Voters 
of the Town of Ridgefield, held at the Town-House, on 
Saturday, December 10, 1864, in pursuance of the 
above call, William Lee was appointed by the Select- 
men and Town Clerk Moderator of said meeting. 

" 'Moved, That we adjourn for the space of thirty 
minutes.' Carried. 

" Pursuant to the foregoing adjournment, met at the 
expiration of time mentioned, when the following Res- 
olutions or Votes were offered : 

" 'Resolved, That the Town Treasurer of the Town of 
Ridgefield be, and he hereby is authorized and direct- 
ed to borrow, on the credit and for the general pur- 
poses of the town, such sum or sums of money as shall 
be approved by the Selectmen, not exceeding ten 



230 HISTORY OF RTDGEFIELD. 

thousand dollars, either on temporary or permanent 
loan, at his direction, and to execute all proper notes 
and obligations therefor as such Treasurer. 

" 'Resolved, That Timothy Jones and John D. Hurl- 
butt be, and are hereby appointed a Committee on be- 
half of this town, duly authorized and directed to pro- 
cure the enlistment into the military service of the 
United States, on the quota of Ridgefield, of so many 
men as may in their opinion be hereafter required on 
any anticipated or pending draft or drafts, under the 
following restrictions : That all persons who will pay 
the sum of one hundred dollars each, for the purpose 
of procuring a substitute, for three years, to the Treas- 
urer of the town, within ten days, shall be entitled to 
a substitute in his own name. And in case more per- 
sons shall pay said sum within said ten days than is 
necessary to fill the quota (in the judgment of the 
Committee), the Committee shall designate by lot the 
names of those who shall be furnished with substitutes ; 
and the Committee shall put on no more substitutes 
than there are persons who may pay the one hundred 
dollars ; and said Committee shall draw orders on the 
Treasurer of the town for such sum or sums of money 
as they shall from time to time require to meet the 
expefises incurred by their vote, duly signed by the 
Selectmen ; and said Selectmen are duly authorized to 
fill any vacancy or vacancies which may occur in said 
Committee. 

" 'Resolved, That the Town Treasurer be, and hereby 
is authorized and directed to pay all orders drawn by 
the Committee, for the purpose named in the foregoing 
Resolution, out of any funds now in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated.' 

" On motion, the above Resolutions were carried. 

" 'Moved, That the Committee appointed to fill 
the quota be, and are hereby instructed to have the 
names of such invalid persons as are not military sub- 
jects, whose names appear in the enrolment, stricken 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 23 1 

from the same ; and when instances require the trans- 
portation of the same to and from Bridj^eport, the 
Committee be instructed to have the same attended to 
at the expense of the town. The motion was carried. 

''Moved, That the Committee use discretionary 
power as to time, etc., in taking such persons to and 
from Bridgeport. ' Carried. 

" On motion adjourned. 

"Attest, A. N. Thomas, Town C/crk." 

"notice. 

"The Legal Voters of the Town of Ridgefield are 
hereby warned to attend a Special Town Meeting, at 
the Town-Hall, in said Ridgefield, on Saturday, the i8th 
day of February, 1865, at i o'clock P.M., for the pur- 
pose of hearing the report of the Recruiting Committee, 
appointed at a Special Town Meeting holden at said 
Town-Hall, on the iith day of December, 1864, and 
to take such action in relation to recruiting for said 
town, on the call of the President of the United States 
for three hundred thousand men, as said meeting shall 
deem expedient. 

" William Lee, 

" Timothy Jones, 

"William W. Beers, \- Selectmen. 

" Samuel S. St. John, 

"George Boughton, 

"Ridgefield, Ct., February 11, 1865." 

" At a Special Town Meeting of the Legal Voters of 
the Town of Ridgefield, held at the Town-House, on 
Saturday, February 18, 1865, in pursuance of the above 
call, Hiram K. Scott, Esq., was chosen Chairman of 
said meeting. 

"The Report of the Recruiting Committee, ap- 



232 HIS TOR V OF RID GE FIELD. 

pointed at Special Town Meeting, was presented and 
read, as follows : 

"The undersigned persons, who were appointed re- 
cruiting agents for the Town of Ridgefield, at a Special 
Town Meeting held in this place on December 10, 
1864, beg leave to make the following report : 

" On account of the small number attending said 
meeting, immediate efforts were made by said agents 
to give notice throughout the town of the action taken 
at the above-mentioned meeting. The following nam- 
ed persons paid into the Town Treasury each one hun- 
dred dollars, within the time required by said meeting: 
John S. Keeler, Charles B. Staples, 

Isaac P. Howe, John T. Hunt, 

David Daw, Charles Lockwood, 

Samuel Beers, Smith Gage, 

Henry A. Stuart, Clark Keeler, 2'', 

Benjaman F. Bradley, Edward T. Hunt, 

John B. Smith, 
amounting to thirteen in number. Your agents proceed- 
ed at once to the marshal's oflfice in liridgeport, for 
the purpose of acquitting themselves fully of the duty 
assigned them, 

" They found upon the enrolment at said office about 
one hundred and eighty names registered as military 
subjects for this town. Sixty of these, from various 
causes, were erased, leaving at this time about one 
hundred and twenty-five enrolled, including additions 
necessary to be made. They also negotiated with Seth 
J, Benedict, of Bridgeport, to furnish us with the re- 
quisite number of recruits for said town, who agreed to 
furnish at $630 per man, costing the town for each 
man the sum of $230. Two substitutes were enlisted 
under this contract, one for John S. Keeler and one 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 



233 



for Henry A. Stuart, when an order was issued by Pro- 
vost-Marshal General Fry requiring the principal in 
all cases to be present at the time of enlistment. The 
effect of this order was almost to stop business at the 
office ; and also Mr. Benedict did not consider him- 
self any longer bound by the former contract with 
your agents. Also the price of substitutes advanced 
from $630 to $775. Your agents, controlled by their own 
judgment, held the opinion that this sudden advance 
in the price of men was fictitious, and that men 
would soon be of less price. Consequently they re- 
turned home, with the intention of awaiting the result, 
whatever that might be. They also communicated 
with brokers elsewhere, and became satisfied that the 
increase of price was not confined to Bridgeport alone. 
Mr. Benedict also informed us every few days what 
the prospect was with him, the substance of which 
was the price remained for several weeks at the last- 
named figures, and that very few men passed exami- 
nation out of the large number presented. Your 
agents would also state that immediately after the 
publication of the above order there was a decrease in 
the number of substitutes for three years. Men most- 
ly preferred to go as volunteers ; with such your 
agents had no power, according to the vote of the 
town by which we held authority. In the meantime a 
young man by the name of Marcus J. Olmsted pro- 
posed to volunteer for this town, and the Selectmen 
took upon themselves the responsibility of closing a 
bargain with him, which cost the town about $110. 
Your agents enlisted him under authority of the Se- 
lectmen. A few more weeks elapsed, and the time 
appointed for the draft was near at hand. Your agents 



234 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

again proceeded to Bridgeport with the determination 
of procuring the men at any thing less than an unrea- 
sonable price. They found matters not improved any 
since their visit — men still high and scarce. We sent 
two principals, being anxious of carrying out the vote of 
the town relative to the principals if possible ; but 
after two days of fruitless effort they returned. 

" Mr. Benedict, hearing that the men could be en- 
listed in the navy without the principals being present, 
went to New York City to see if he could secure any 
men for us ; but all his efforts were fruitless. He 
then went to Boston for the same purpose, but return- 
ed with the same result. Thinking it best, in view of 
the above facts, that a statement of our endeavors 
should be made to the town, we prayed that this 
meeting might be called for such purpose, and also 
that action might be taken by your honorable body 
as to the course to be pursued in the future. All of 
which is respectfully submitted. 

" Timothy Jones, ] Recruiting 
"John D. Hurlbutt, ( Agents. 

" RiDGEFiELD, Ct., February 18, 1S65." 

" 'Moved, That the foregoing report of the Recruiting 
Agents be, and is hereby accepted, and said agents are 
released and discharged from further duty as recruiting 
agents, which was carried. 

" 'Moved, That the Town Treasurer be, and hereby is 
authorized to refund to those individuals having money 
deposited in his hands for substitutes, such sums as 
they have paid him, except the two who have had sub- 
stitutes furnished in their names, which also was car- 
ried. 

'Moved, That we do now adjourn.' 

"Attest, Albert N.Thomas, Town Clerk/' 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 



235 



The following persons represented the Town of 
Ridgefield, Ct., during the war of the Rebellion : 



Name. 


Reg't. 


Co. 
E. 


Mustered in. 
Jan. 5, 1864. 


Discharged. 


Avery, Treadwell 


istArt'y. 


Sept. 25, 1865. 


Austin, David 


17th. 


C 


Aug. II, 1862. 


July 10, 1865. 
Sept. 25, 1863. 


" Hiram 




" Jacob 


" 


'< 




July 19, 1865. H 
Jan. ig, 1863. 


Avery, W. Charles 




" 




" William 


" 


" 


Jan. 6, 1864. 




Avaunt, William 


" 


" 


Jan. 15, 1862. 


March 29, 1863. 


Brown, Franklin 


" 


" 


Jan. 13, 1862. 


Feb. 24, 1863. 


" Jefferson 


" 


" 


Jan. 12, 1862. 


Oct. 20, 1863. 


" Nehemiah 


" 


" 




Sept. 25, 1865. 


Benedict, Charles H . . . 


" 


" 


Aug. 12, 1862. 


Feb. 26, 1863. 


Bennett, Alfred 


" 


" 


July 26, 1862. 


Jan. 17, 1863. 


Brinkerhoff, B. F 


" 


" 


July 13, 1862. 


July 19, 1865. 


Benjamin, C. M 


gth. 


K. 


April I, 1862. 


April 25, 1862. 


Burt, Francis E 


loth. 


G. 


Oct. 2, 1861. 


Aug. 16, 1865. 


" Charles H 


" 


" 


Feb. 26, 1862. 


Sept. II, 1864. 


Baxter, Samuel B 


nth. 


B. 


Dec. 16, 1863. 


Oct. 25, 1864. 


Bates, Francis H 


I2th. 


E. 


Dec. 31, 1861. 


Aug. 12, 1865. 


Brown, James P 


15th. 


B. 


Aug. 6, 1862. 


June 27, 1865. 


Bradley, D. B 


23d. 


r; 


Sept. 7, 1862. 


July 7, 1863. 
Aug. 31, 1863. 


Burt, Stephen 




Barker, William E 


" 


K. 


Sept. 5, 1862. 


Bentley, Benjamin.... 






Oct. 23, 1863. 




Bahreng, Ernest 






Nov. 7, 1863. 




Beers, Charles 


istArt'y. 
5th. 


F 


Jan. 5, 1864. 
March 17, 1862. 


Sept. 25, 1865. 
Oct. 17, 1863. 


Betts, William H 


G. 


Boyle, Richard 






Oct. 20, 1863. 




Burns, John 






<i <j 




Burr, Daniel D 


17th. 


G. 


Aug. 13, 1862. 


July 19, 1865. 


Carney, Lawrence 


" 


" 


Aug. 14, 1862. 


July I, 1863. 


Creedan, William 


" 


" 


Aug. 13, 1862. 


July 19, 1865. 


Coe, Henry 


5th. 
15th, 




July 22, 1861. 
Feb. 5, 1862. 




Casey, William E 


B. 


Jan. 6, 1865. 


Canfield, S. C 


" 


" 


Aug. 6, 1862. 
Jan. 5, 1864. 


June 27, 1865. 


Compton, Joseph 






Dauchy, J. L 


nth 


A 


Oct. 24, 1861. 


Sept. 13, 1865. 
Dec. 20, 1862. 


De Forest, Sylvester... 






Davis, James W 


i2th. 


E. 


Dec. 31, 1861. 


Aug. 12, 1S65. 


Dykeman, Nirum. ... 


17th. 


G. 


Aug. II, 1862. 


Nov. 17, 1862. 


Dove, D. G 


" 


" 


Aug. 13, 1862. 


July 19, 1865. 


Dickens, Charles H . . . 


" 


" 


Aug. II, 1862. 


Jan. 14, 1863. 


Dann, Levi 


23d. 


E 


Sept. 5, 1862. 
Oct. 24, 1863. 


Aug. 31, 1863. 


Davis, George 





2^6 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



Name. 



Degeneres, Charles.... 

Devins, George 

Edmond, E. H 

Enright, James 

Finch, N. A 

Fry, John G 

Foote, Gains St. John.. 

Faroon, Robert 

Fox, Aaron 

Godfrej', George F 

Gilbert, Smith 

Gregory, David 

Gilbert, John 

" George 

" Edwin B 

Grumman, Frederick A. 

Godfrey, Sylvester 

Gage, Edwin B 

" Rhomanza 

Gilbert, Charles F 

Grannis, John H 

Gray, George 

Gilbert, Charles 

Gage, Seely 

Gibbons, Edward 

Gilbert, Charles 

Harrington, John H... 

Hoyt, John W 

Hull, Silas 

Holmes, J. W 

Hall, Ezra S 

Hendricks, Henry. . . . 

Hubbell, Frank 

Hendricks, David 

Judd, Horace I 

Jennings, Charles A. . . 
William H.. 

Jarvis, J.J 

Juergens, Theodore... 

John, Frederick 

Johnson, Samuel J . . . . 

William L... 

Knapp, Henry 

" Lewis 

Keeler, O. H 

Keeler, Rufus D 

" Smith 



Reg't. 


Co. 


17th. 
23d. 
17th. 


G. 


" 


H. 


" 


C. 


17th. 


G. 


5th. 


A. 
E. 


8th. 


H. 


nth. 


A. 


I2th. 


E. 


17th. 


C. 
G. 


23d. 


K. 


17th. 


G. 


Sth. 


H. 


17th. 


G. 


6th. 


C. 


;istArt'y. 


E. 


' 5th. 
5th. 
loth. 


A. 
K. 
G. 



Mustered in. 



Oct. 

Sept. 
Aug. 
Sept. 
Aug. 
Aug. 
Aug. 
Aug. 
Sept. 
Aug. 
Aug. 
Aug. 
July 



22, 1863. 

23. 1861. 

11, 1862. 
7, 1862. 
14, 1862. 
13, 1862. 
16, 1862. 

12, 1862. 
23, 1861. 

13, 1862. 

14. 1862. 
13, 1862. 

22, 1861. 



Feb. 27, 1S63. 
Aug. 31, 1S63. 
July 19, 1865. 
Jan. 18, 1863 
Nov. 17, 1863. 
May, 1863. 



March 3, 1864. 
Sept. 23, 1861. 
Oct. 24, 1861. 



Nov. 30, 
July 26, 
Aug. 15, 
Oct. 31, 
Sept. 6, 
Oct. 24, 
Oct. 22, 
Aug. II, 
Aug. 12, 
Aug. 13 
July 26, 
Aug. 12, 
Sept. 23, 



1861. 
1862. 

1S62. 
1862. 
1862. 
1863. 
1863. 

1862. 

1862. 
, 1862. 
1862. 

1862. 

1861. 



Aug. 13, 1862. 



Aug. II, 1862. 
Oct. II, 1863. 
Oct. 24, 1863. 
Nov. 3, 1863. 
Dec. 22, 1863. 
Jan. 5, 1864. 

July 22, 1861. 
March 17, 1862. 
Oct. 9, 1861. 



Discharged. 



July 19, 
Feb. 14, 
Dec. 10, 
July 22, 
Aug. 5, 
July 19, 
Sept. 7, 
Sept. 18 
Dec. 21, 
May 10, 
July 3. 
.Aug. 30 
March 2 
Aug. 31 



1865. 

1863. 

1862. 

1864. 
1864. 

1865. 

1864. 
, 1864. 

1865. 

1862. 
1S65. 
, 1864. 

, 1863. 
, 1863. 



July 19, 1865. 
June 28, 1863. 
March 25, 1S63. 
June 8, 1864. 
Jan. 27, 1863. 
May I, 1865. 
Sept. 22, 1864. 

Aug. 12, 1865. 
July I, 1865. 
March 9, 1865. 
July 19, 1865. 
Aug. II, 1865. 



Sept. 25, 1865. 

July 22, 1S64. 
Dec. 19, 1862. 
Dec. 10, 1S62. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 



237 



Name. 



Rkg't. 



Keeler, Eli J 17th. 

Klinefelter, J. C 23d. 

Keeler, Oscar H 

Lockwood, Andrew.. . . 17th. 

Lee, A. W 

Lockwood, William H . 5th. 

Lannon, Patrick nth. 

Lounsbury, P. C 17th. 

Les, Jort 

Lloyd, Michael 

Mead, Smith 5th. 

Merritt, William M 7th. 

Moffatt, Edward ! " 

Mead, Benjamin L. . . . 13th. 

" Jeremiah 1 17th. 

Main, James C ; 

Monroe, A. L " 

McConnell, John 

Mead, R. N 

Maher, Dennis 

Northrop, David, 2d... 17th. 

Nickerson, B. V 

Northrop, John 7th. 

Osterman, Frank 

Oakley, Miles 

Piatt, Alfred istArt'y. 

Phelan, S. S 

Piatt, Charles loth. 

" George " 

Payne, Thomas nth. 

Pickett, E. D 17th. 

Prichard, William 

Rasco, C. B 17th 

Rich, Jared " 

Rhan, C. A 

Roche, James T 2d Art'y 

Rasco, James 5th. 

Ruggles, Elbert 13th. 

" Sidney B. . . . " 

Raymond, Amos 17th. 

Ruff, Anthony 

Rowley, John 

Scot, John A 

Smith, S. H 17th. 

Stevens, Levi B istArt'y, 

Selleck, Eben " 

Scofield, O. K 7th. 



Co. 



G. 



Mustered in. 



Aug 
Sept 

Tilly 
Aug 

Aug 
July 
Oct. 
Aug 
Oct. 
Jan. 
July 
Sept 



II, 1862. 
. 7, 1862. 
22, 1S61. 

13, 1S62. 

II, 1862. 
22, 1861. 
24, 1861. 

II, 1S62. 
22, 1863. 
5, 1864. 
22, 1861. 
. 5, 1861. 



Feb. 5, 1862. 
Aug. 13, 1862. 
Aug. II, 1862. 



Oct. 21, 1863. 
Aug. 13, 1862. 
Aug. II, 1862. 
Oct. 30, 1863. 
Oct. 24, 1863. 
Jan. 5, 1864. 
Jan. 22, 1S62. 
Dec. 9, 1863. 
Dec. II, 1863. 

Oct. 24, 1861. 
Aug. 9, 1862. 
Oct. 22, 1863. 
Aug. II, 1862. 
Sept. 2, 1862. 
Aug. 12, 1862. 
Jan. 29, 1864. 
July 22, 1861. 
"Feb. 18, 1862. 
Feb. 5, 1862. 
July 19, 1862. 
Oct. 22, 1863. 
Nov. 2, 1863. 
Jan. 5, 1S64. 
I Aug. II, 1862. 
Dec. 21, 1863. 
|jan. 5. 1864. 
Sept. 5, 1861. 



Discharged. 



July 19, 1865. 
Aug. 31, 1863. 

July 19, 1865. 



Oct. 24, 1864. 
Dec. 24, 1863. 



March 14, 1863. 
Sept. 12, 1864. 

Nov. 14, 1865. 
July 19, 1865. 

Dec. 29, 1862. 
July 19, 1865. 
Nov. 29, 1862. 

July 19, 1865. 
April 13, 1863. 
Aug. iS, 1864. 



Sept. 25, 1865. 
April 7, 1865. 
Aug. 25, 1865. 

April 27, 1862. 
July I, 1863. 

Dec. 10, 1862. 
Dec. 4, 1862. 
July 10, 1865. 
Aug. 18, 1865. 
Nov. 16, 1862. 
April 25, 1864. 
April 25, 1865. 
July 19, 1S65. 



July 10, 1S65. 
Sept. 25, 1S65. 
Sept. 25, 1865. 
July 20, 1865. 



238 



HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 



Name. 



Stone, Irving 

Smith, A. V. S 

Sturges, Frederick L 
Smith, Charles, Jr. . . 

Seymour, Fr. E 

Smith, Allen 

Stevens, George W. . 

Smith, David E 

Thomas, John 

Ulmer, Charles 

Van Scoy, John A.. . 

Viely, John 

Williams, Sylvester. . 
Wood, George L. . . . 
Williams, Hawley. . . 

" Sidney 

Warren, Rufus 

Whitlock, Joseph H. 

" Nephi. . . . 

White, E. P 

Word, George L. . . . 

Weed, William A 

Walters, John M 



Reg't. 



7th. 
Sth. 
13th. 
17th. 



23d. 
Sth. 

I3ih. 

17th. 

Sth. 

17th. 



Co. I Mustered in. 



June II, 1863. 
Oct. 16, 1S61. 
Feb. 5, 1S62. 
Aug. II, 1862. 
Aug. 15, 1862. 
Aug. 13, 1862. 
Aug. 14, 1862. 
Sept. 5, 1862. 
March 14,1864. 
Jan. 5, 1864. 
Feb. 20, 1862. 
Oct. 21, 1863. 
Aug. 12, 1862. 
Aug. 13, 1862. 
Sept. 23, 1861. 

Aug. II, 1862. 
July 25, 1862. 

Aug. II, 1S62. 
Aug. 13, 1862. 
Jan. 5, 1864. 
July 25, 1862. 



Discharged. 



July 31, 1863. 
Jan. 20, 1864. 
Dec. 12, 1S62. 
July 19, 1865. 
April 26, 1863. 
July 19, 1865. 

Aug. 31, 1863. 
May 19, 1865. 

Nov. 27, 1864. 

July 19, 1S65. 
Feb. 13, 1864. 
Dec. 12, 1865. 

July 17, 1863. 

July 24, 1865. 
Aug. 10, 1865. 
Feb. 13, 1864. 




THE LAKE VIEW FROM WEST MOUNTAIN -WACCAliUC IN THE DISTANCE. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE TOWN. 

The one hundred and seventy years of its history 
have wrought of necessity many and great changes in 
the town ; and yet not so many or so great as have 
often been produced by a score of years in many of 
our Western towns, or in those which have been open- 
ed to the pubHc by some grand trunk Hne of railway. 

Its growth has been in every sense gradual. It has 
been built up by the dollars earned by its own people, 
and in most part by the dollars which have grown out 
of its own soil. A steady and habitual industry, a 
close and careful economy have borne their legitimate 
fruit. Thus the slow growth of the town has in reality 
given permanency and strength to it. 

Nearly every house is owned by its occupant, and 
nearly every foot of soil by the one who tills it. The 
people are mainly farmers and mechanics, the excep- 
tion being about equally divided between the mer- 
chants and those who, having elsewhere obtained a 
competency, have returned to their native town to 
make for themselves a home. 

Ridgefield Street, the only part of the town which 
makes any pretensions to being a village, is situated 
on the exact spot where, eightscore and ten years ago, 
the first settlers located. Embowered in trees of a 
century's growth, with walks and lawns well kept, 



240 HISTORY OF KIDGRFIELD. 

the first impression of every stranger is its home-like 
appearance. A quiet like that of the Sabbath rests 
upon it, and an atmosphere wholesome and moral .every- 
where pervades it. It is in every respect a fine speci- 
men of an old New England town, where culture and 
refinement have long enough existed to stamp them- 
selves upon the very faces as well as the hearts and 
homes of the people. 

The churches are all in a prosperous condition, and 
related to each other by the kindest Christian sympathy. 
The church buildings are well kept, and the " old- 
fashioned" gospel — of salvation alone through Jesus 
Christ — regularly preached. Indeed the ;//^;rrt/r of the 
town is excellent. The vices and immoralities so com- 
mon in larger places are almost unknown. 

In the year 1872 the town, by a large majority, voted 
" no license,'" and the few who publicly sold intoxicat- 
ing drinks were compelled to respect the vote. Of late 
a new and deeper interest in the subject of temperance 
reform has sprung up among the people, and the feasi- 
bility of doing away even with cider-drinking is strongly 
advocated. 

Until quite recently the village has changed but 
little in size or general appearance for the last half 
century. The past few years, however, have witnessed 
quite a change. New streets have been laid out on 
•East Ridge by its enterprising owner, L. H. Bailey, 
Esq., and a number of new dwellings been erected ; 
while on the main street several old residences have 
been greatly improved and new ones added. 

Mr. P. C, Lounsbury having purchased the property 
best known as the " Dr. Perry Place," has made many 
marked and modern improvements about the house 



PRESENT CONDITION OF THE TOWN. 24 1 

and grounds — improvements which are still going on, 
and which, when completed, will make his residence 
second to none in the town. 

J, Howard King, Esq., of Albany, has also remod- 
elled and greatly improved his summer home, at an ex- 
pense of many thousand dollars. He has converted the 
" Brick House" into a palatial residence. He has also 
purchased the property on High Ridge, and is greatly 
improving it. The street has been widened and adorn- 
ed with young shade trees, in the same manner as 
Prospect Avenue, rustic gateways put up, and a pleas- 
ant observatory erected on the very top of the hill. 
There are many fine views in town, but none which 
equal in every particular the view to be obtained from 
the summit of this delightful ridge. On a clear bright 
morning, or just at evening, one may sit here and feast 
his eye upon almost all that is beautiful in nature : 
the far-away mountains fencing in the horizon ; the 
nearer hills, rising with less pretension from the inter- 
vening plains ; the deep blue waters of the Sound, re- 
flecting the slanting rays of sunlight ; the clear white 
thread of sand which marks the shore of Long Island ; 
the purple haze of the still more remote parts of 
the island, which gradually lose themselves in the 
boundaries of vision ; the gently receding fields, which 
seem imperceptibly to dip down to the very surface of 
the waters, dotted here and there with farm-houses 
and church-spires, and last, but not least, the broken 
and uneven upland, which reminds one of the "hill 
country of Judea," leading away the eye towards the 
sunrising. 

In the year 1876 a new town-house was erected on 
the main street, nearly opposite the M. E. Church, at 



242 HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD. 

an expense of $5976.55. The size of the building is 
40 X 65 feet, with 30-foot posts. It consists of two 
stories, one 12-foot and the other 16-foot ceilings. The 
lower part is used for town purposes, while the upper 
part has been fitted up for a public hall, and which, 
through the efforts of a number of gentlemen, has been 
very conveniently and pleasantly furnished. There is 
also a basement, which has been converted into a " lock- 
up," for the entertainment of such travellers as seem, 
by their frequent visits, to appreciate the beauties of 
the town, but are, nevertheless, sadly lacking in funds 
necessary to procure the best accommodations. 

A new building, of large dimensions, erected on the 
land owned by the Agricultural Society of Ridgcfield, 
for fair purposes, is a prominent feature of the south 
part of the village, and marks the place where General 
Tryon's forces encamped. 

Mr. D. H. Valden, of Titicus, and Mr. Lewis June, 
of Scotland, have also erected elegant dwellings, which 
add much to the appearance of this part of the town. 
Rev. L. W. Abbott, after a successful ministry of 
many years, has returned and fitted up a beautiful 
home about a mile north of the church of which he 
was for three years pastor. 

Mr. George Main and Mr. Benjamin Partrick have 
also erected neat and pleasant cottages towards the 
lower end of the street. 

The town is still without a lawyer, and the prospects 
of supporting one are now, as they have ever been, 
exceedingly poor. 

A newspaper, TJic Ridgcfield Press, was started some 
two years ago, which is still published, with a constantly 
increasing circulation. The lower part of the old 



PRESENT CONDITION OF THE TOWN. 243 

Masonic Hall, which has been recently moved back 
from the street, and tastily fitted up, is used by the 
publisher as a printing-office and an editorial room. 

The best " water view" to be had in town, aside from 
that of Long Island Sound, is from the western de- 
clivity of West Mountain. Three beautiful lakes, two 
of which are represented in the opposite illustration, lie 
almost at your feet. 

Ridgebury, in the northern part of the town, has 
changed but little for many years. A cluster of neat 
farm-houses surround a church equally neat. It is 
pleasantly located and is healthful and retired. 

The elevated position of the whole town renders it pre- 
eminently free from many of the diseases which are so 
prevalent in less elevated regions. Especially is it health- 
ful for children, and for such as are subject to malarial 
troubles. This fact is coming to be generally known, 
and every year all the available places of entertainment 
are secured at an early day. The gayety and parade of 
fashionable life are here laid aside, and those who seek 
rest and recreation are sure to be successful in their 
search. The facilities for reaching the place have been 
greatly improved. In 1870 a branch road was built, 
intersecting the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad at 
Branchville, a village four miles distant. It is now 
easily accessible to visitors, being about two hours by 
rail from New York City. 

For beauty of scenery, for purity and healthfulness 
of climate, for quiet and peaceful retirement, few places 
offer such attractions as this little town ; and, based 
upon the best foundations of prophecy, the future must 
more than realize the expectations and hopes of its 
warmest and truest friends. 



APPENDIX. 



CENSUS OF THE TOWN. 



1756 


= 


III5. 


I8IO 


— 


2103. 


1820 


= 


2301. 


1830 


== 


2322. 


1840 


= 


2474. 


1850 


-— 


2237. 


i860 


^ 


I9IO. 


1870 


=: 


2213. 



The following persons have been elected from the 
town to represent the i ith District in the State Senate : 

1834. John F. King. 

1837. Samuel S. St. John. 

1849. Joshua I. King. 

1853. John B. Hyatt. 

1867. Peter P. Cornen. 

1875. Lewis H. Bailey. 



JUDGES OF PROBATE. 

1 841. Harvey Smith, served i year. 

1842. William Sherwood, " 2 years. 
1844. Harvey Smith, " 2 



2 46 HISTOR V OF KIDGEFIELD. 

1846, Jacob T. Haviland, served i year. 

1847 Harvey Smith, " i 

1848. Ebenezer Hawley, " 4 years. 

1852. Edward Couch, " 2 " 

1854. Henry Smith, 2'', " i year. 

1855, Hiram K. Scott, " 15 years. 

1870. D. Smith Sholes, " 1 year. 

1 87 1. Elijah L. Thomas, " 2 years. 
1873. Hiram K. Scott, " — 



1740 
1741 
1742 
1743 
1744 

1745 
1746 

1747 
1748 

1749 
1750 
1751 
1752 
1753 
1754 
1755 
1756 

1757 
1758 

1759 



REPRESENTATIVES TO LEGISLATURE. 

James Benedict, Samuel Smith. 
James Benedict. 

James Benedict, Daniel Olmstead. 
James Benedict, Daniel Olmstead. 
James Benedict, Richard Olmstead. 
Timothy Keeler, Joseph Hawley. 
Richard Olmstead, Samuel Olmstead. 
Richard Olmstead, Samuel Olmstead. 
James Benedict, Samuel Olmstead. 
James Benedict, Samuel Olmstead. 
Samuel Olmstead, Stephen Smith. 
James Benedict, Sainuel Olmstead. 
Richard Olmstead, Samuel Olmstead. 
Samuel Olmstead, Stephen Smith. 
Samuel Olmstead, Stephen Smith. 
Samuel Olmstead, Stephen Smith. 
Elijah Olmstead, Samuel Olmstead. 
Elijah Hawley. 

Elijah Hawley, Samuel Olmstead, S. Smith. 
Samuel Olmstead, John Benedict, Stephen 
Smith. 



APPENDIX. 247 

1760. Samuel Olmstead, Stephen Smith. 

1 761. Samuel Olmstead, Lemuel Abbott. 

1762. Samuel Olmstead, Stephen Smith. 

1763. Timothy Keeler, Samuel Olmstead. 

1764. Samuel Olmstead, Timothy Keeler, John Bene- 

dict. 

1765. Timothy Keeler, Stephen Smith. 

1766. William Lee, Nathan Olmstead. 

1767. William Lee, Nathan Olmstead, Samuel Olm- 

stead, Stephen Smith. 

1768. Samuel Olmstead, William Lee. 

1769. Samuel Olmstead, William Lee, Philip Burr 

Bradley. 

1770. Samuel Olmstead, Philip Burr Bradley, Benja- 

min Stebbins, 

1 77 1. William Lee, Co'. Philip Burr Bradley, Samuel 

Olmstead. 

1772. Co'. Philip Burr Bradley, Samuel Olmstead. 

1773. Co'. Philip Burr Bradley, Samuel Olmstead. 

1774. Co'. Philip Burr Bradley, Samuel Olmstead. 

1775. Co'. Philip B. Bradley, Samuel Olmstead, Capt. 

Lemuel Morehouse. 

1776. Samuel Olmstead, Co'. P. B. Bradley, Stephen 

Smith. 

1777. William Forrester, Nathan Olmstead, John 

Benedict. 

1778. Nathan Olmstead, T. Keeler, W. Forrester, S. 

Olmstead. 

1779. Samuel Olmstead, William Forrester, Timothy 

Keeler, Jr., Stephen Norris, John Benedict. 

1780. Nathan Olmstead, John Benedict, Co'. P. B. 

Bradley, Capt. Jonah P'oster, Timothy 
Keeler, Isaac Doolittlc. 



248 HISTORY OF KIDGEFIELD. 

1 78 1. Timothy Keclcr, Ichabod Doolittle, Capt, 

David Olmstcad. 

1782. Co'. P. B. Bradley, Capt. David Olmstead. 

1783. Co'. P. B. Bradley, Capt. David Olmstead. 

1784. Co'. P. B. Bradley, Capt. David Olmstead. 

1785. Co'. P. B. Bradley, Capt. David Olmstead. 

1786. Co'. P. B. Bradley, Capt. D. Olmstead. 

1787. Co'. P. B. Bradley, Capt. D. Olmstead. 

1788. Co'. P. B. Bradley, William Forrester, David 

Olmstead. 

1789. Co'. P. 15. Bradley, David Olmstead, Joshua 

King. 

1790. Co'. P. B. Bradley, Joshua King. 

1 791. Co'. P. B. I^radley, Joshua King, David Olm- 

stead. 

1792. Joshua King, William Forrester, Amos Baker. 

1793. Joshua King, David Olmstead. 

1794. Joshua King, William Forrester. 

1795. Joshua King, David Olmstead, W'". F'orrester. 

1796. Joshua King, W". Forrester, David Olmstead. 

1797. David Olmstcad, Samuel Dauchy. 

1798. Samuel Dauchy, Nathan Smith, Joshua King, 

David Olmstead. 

1799. Joshua King, Nathan Dauchy. 

1800. Jacob Olmstead, Eliphalet Brush, Joshua King, 

Job Smith. 

1801. Nathan Dauchy, Jared Olmstead. 

1802. Joshua King, Samuel Stebbins. 

1803. Samuel Stebbins, Nathan Dauchy, Jr. 

1804. Nathan Dauchy, Jr., Timothy Kceler, Nathan 

Smith. 

1805. Nathan Dauch)', Nathan Smith, Job Smith, 

Jonathan Keeler. 



APPENDIX. 249 

t8o6. Job Smith, Jonathan Kecler, Samuel Stebbins, 
Timothy Keeler. 

1807. Nathan Smith, Timothy Keeler, 2'', John Jones, 

Jesse S. Bradley. 

1808. J. Jones, Jesse S. Bradley, Jacob Dauchy, Tim- 

othy Keeler, 2''. 

1809. Jacob Dauchy, Timothy Keeler, Nathan Dau- 

chy, Jesse S. Bradley. 

1 8 10. Nathan Dauchy, Aaron Stuart, Daniel Jones. 

181 1. Joshua King, Gamaliel Benedict. 

1812. Joshua King, BenjaminLynes, Matthew Keeler, 

Nathan Dauchy. 

1 81 3. Nathan Smith, Samuel Stebbins. 

1 8 14. Daniel Jones, Seth Boughton, Jesse S. Bradley, 

Jeremiah Mead. 

181 5. Jesse S, Bradley, Jeremiah Mead. Special 

Session — Abner Gilbert, Jr., Nathan Dauchy. 

1816. Joshua King, Timothy Keeler, W". Havvley. 

18 1 7. W". Hawley, Gamaliel Benedict, Matthew 

Keeler. 

181 8. Eliphalet Brush, Jabez M. Gilbert. 

1819. Gamaliel Benedict, Bradley Hull. 

1820. Benjamin Lynes, Elijah Hawley. 

1 82 1. Benjamin Lynes, Aaron Lee. 

1822. Aaron Lee, Lot Forrester. 

1823. Aaron Lee, Riah Nash. 

1824. William Hawley, Richard Randall. 

1825. John F. King, William Crocker. 

1826. Jesse S. Bradley, John F. King. 

1827. Jesse S. Bradley, Jabez M. Gilbert. 

1828. Jabez M. Gilbert, Lot Forrester. 

1829. Jesse S. Bradley, Aaron Lee. 

1830. Aaron Lee, Ebcnezer Hawley. 



250 HIS TOR Y OF RID GE FIELD. 

183 1. Ebenezer Hawley, Gamaliel N. Benedict. 

1832. Walter Dauchy, Thomas St. John. 

1833. Thomas St. John, William Sherwood. 

1834. Ebenezer Hawley, Gamaliel N. Benedict. 

1835. Aaron Lee, Joseph C. Sears. 

1836. Aaron Lee, Joseph C. Sears. 

1837. Czar Jones, Major Boughton. 

1838. Czar Jones, Major Boughton. 

1839. Thadeus Keeler, 2'', Eli Rockwell. 

1840. Keeler Dauchy, Eli Rockwell. 

1841. William Lee, Samuel S. Olmstead. 

1842. William Lee, Joseph C. Sears. 

1843. Albin Jennings, Ebenezer Hawley. 

1844. Ebenezer Hawley, Major Boughton. 

1845. Harvey Smith, Hezekiah Scott. 

1846. Chauncey Olmstead, Nehemiah Keeler. 

1847. Abijah Ressequie, Benjamin D. Norris. 

1848. George Keeler, Francis A. Rockwell. 
1849.' David Scott, Richard L. Gilbert. 

1850. Hiram K. Scott, David Hurlburt. 

185 1. Russell B. Keeler, Robert C. Edmonds. 

1852. Harvey K. Smith, James Smith. 

1853. Edward Williams, Samuel M. Smith. 

1854. Samuel S. Olmstead, Timothy Jones. 

1855. Jesse S. Bradley, Charles Smith. 

1856. William Howe, William M. Lynes. 

1857. Benjamin K. Northrop, Hiram O. Nash. 

1858. Jacob Dauchy, Ebenezer Jones. 

1859. Edward H. Smith, Ebenezer B. Sanford. 
i860. William Lee, John T. Rockwell. 

1 861. Samuel Scott, Benjamin K. Nothrop. 

1862. Charles Smith, 2"^, Jared N. Olmstead. 

1863. Jared N. Olmstead, Charles Smith, 2''. 



APPENDIX. 251 

1864. Abner Gilbert, Samuel S. St. John. 

1865. Hiram O. Nash, E. W. Keeler. 

1866. Albert Scott, C. W. Slanson. 

1867. Henry Smith, F. A. Rockwell. 

1868. W"*. O. Seymour, George Boughton. 

1869. W". O. Seymour, H. K. Smith. 

1870. Daniel L. Adams, Daniel Hunt. 

1871. Peter P. Cornen, John S. Keeler. 

1872. Elijah L. Thomas, George Boughton. 

1873. H. K. Smith, Edward H. Smith. 

1874. P. C. Lounsbury, L. C. Seymour. 

1875. Nathan Lounsbury, Ira S. Keeler. 

1876. Samuel J. Barlow, Simon Couch. 

1877. Aaron Lee, Matthew Betts. 

1878. Hurlbutt, David H. Valden. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRPqc 

till 




